Department for Transport

Travel: Coronavirus

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of covid-19 passports on the ability of people who identify as (a) Black-Caribbean, (b) Black-African and (c) South Asian to travel internationally.

Robert Courts: Work on developing vaccine certification for international travel continues. We will continue to work across government to consider any potential effects as the policy progresses.

Travel: Coronavirus

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to implement the recommendations of the Global Travel Taskforce that (a) foreign holidays can resume from 17 May 2021 and (b) to create a traffic light country list system.

Robert Courts: It is too early to predict which countries will be on which ‘traffic light’ list.The Government continues to consider a range of factors to inform the restrictions placed on them, such as the percentage of their population that have been vaccinated, the rate of infection, any emerging coronavirus variants and the country’s access to reliable scientific data and genomic sequencing. We will set out by early May which countries will fall into which category, as well as confirming whether international travel can resume from 17 May.

Driving Licences: Denmark

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether bilateral arrangements with Danish authorities require certificates of entitlement issued by the UK to UK citizens resident in Denmark to be recognised by the Danish authorities during the application process when a person has (a) lost their driving licence and (b) is applying for a replacement.

Rachel Maclean: UK licence holders are required to present a valid UK driving licence to exchange it for a Danish licence. So, if the UK licence has been lost, stolen or expired it cannot be exchanged and the UK licence holder will need to apply for a Danish licence and may have to take a test. A certificate of entitlement will not be recognised by Denmark in these circumstances.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: EU Countries

Ms Harriet Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2021 to Question 180911, if he will publish the proposals put forward by the UK for an exemption for specialist hauliers carrying out tours for cultural events in the EU.

Rachel Maclean: The Department for Transport is not able to release the content of correspondence and records pertaining to negotiations between the UK and the EU: these texts are confidential, and it is therefore not appropriate for them to be published.

Electric Scooters: Pilot Schemes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment the Government has made of the e-scooter pilot.

Rachel Maclean: The Department has in place a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation programme. A final report will be published in spring 2022. Any future rules for e-scooters may not be the same as the rules in trials, but they will be based on the evidence we gather in our trials. We are confident the trials will be a success and will help us avoid the problems other countries have faced and ensure that we get our regulations right.

Driving Tests

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will extend the validity of driving theory tests for people who cannot book practical tests as a result of slots being fully booked before their theory test runs out.

Rachel Maclean: The maximum duration of two years between passing the theory test and a subsequent practical test is in place to ensure a candidate’s road safety knowledge and ability to identify developing hazards is current. This validity period is set in legislation and the Government has no current plans to lay further legislation to extend it. It is important road safety knowledge and hazard perception skills are up to date at the critical point a person drives unsupervised for the first time. Those with theory test certificates expiring now will have taken their test in early 2019. Since then, they have been unable to take lessons and practice for long periods of time, and not at all during recent lockdowns. It is difficult to maintain knowledge and understanding of driving theory at the level required during that time without being able to put it into practice. Research suggests that this would be particularly harmful for hazard perception skills, a key factor in road safety. Ensuring new drivers have current relevant knowledge and skills is a vital part of the preparation of new drivers, who are disproportionality represented in casualty statistics. Learners will therefore need to pass another theory test if their certificate expires.

Driving Tests

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of people awaiting driving tests; and what steps are being taken to increase driving test capacity.

Rachel Maclean: There are currently over 400,000 people with a test booked.The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has put in place a number of measures to increase practical driving tests. These include offering overtime and annual leave buy back to examiners, asking all those qualified to conduct tests, but who do not do so as part of their current day job, to return to conducting tests, and conducting out of hours testing (such as on public holidays). The DVSA has also started a recruitment campaign to increase the number of examiners. The aim is to increase testing capacity and reduce the backlog as quickly as possible, whilst maintaining a COVID-secure service for customers and examiners.

Shipping: Coronavirus

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the UN General Assembly's resolution on international cooperation to address challenges faced by seafarers as a result of the covid-19 pandemic to support global supply chains, what recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts to advance the cause of seafarers being recognised as key workers in every country.

Robert Courts: As the first state to declare seafarers as keyworkers, the UK remains committed to protecting the mental health and wellbeing of crew of all nationalities. We continue to make strong representations at all appropriate international forums calling on all states to work together to facilitate the transit and transfer of seafarers, as well as their repatriation.

Transport for the North: Finance

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 25 March 2021 to Question 172921 on Transport for the North: Finance, what assessment his Department made of the future spending plans and outgoing costs of Transport for the North as part of the decision to reduce its core funding allocation in response to Transport for the North having high reserves.

Andrew Stephenson: The decision to adjust Transport for the North’s core funding grant for 2020/21 and 2021/22 was based on an assessment of the funding required for them to effectively undertake their statutory functions.

Railways: North of England

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2021 to Question 175755 on Transport for the North: Finance, whether that decision has any effect on the Government's allocation of funding to the Northern Powerhouse Rail programme.

Andrew Stephenson: The decision to reallocate costs from Transport for the North’s core budget to their Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) budget bears no relation to the Government’s overall allocation of funding to the NPR programme.

Rolling Stock: Diesel Engines

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2021 to Question 175754 on Rolling Stock: Diesel Engines, what estimate his Department has made of the Government funding required to phase out diesel-only trains by 2040.

Chris Heaton-Harris: High-level estimates of the cost of decarbonising the railway made by Network Rail and the rail industry will inform the government's approach to rail decarbonisation, which will be set out in the Department’s forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan. The costs of individual schemes will be assessed separately to ensure value for money and affordability.

South Western Railway

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the value for money for the public purse of South Western Railway’s recent decision to withdraw their fleet of Class 442 trains.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The impact of Covid-19 on passenger numbers travelling on South Western Railway services has been significant, and is not expected to return to previous levels when restrictions are lifted for some time. The Class 442 fleet is no longer needed to deliver SWR’s planned timetable. SWR has decided to withdraw it with immediate effect and cease the programme of modifications that were underway to avoid incurring further costs to the taxpayer to reintroduce and operate these trains. The withdrawal of the fleet is expected to save circa £8million per year in operational costs. The Class 442s would have been withdrawn in August 2024 in any event as the trains are not compliant with requirements for Persons with Reduced Mobility. This decision brings this forward and removes a fleet that is not fully accessible from the Rail Network sooner than originally planned.

West Midlands Rail Franchise: Electrification

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the part the electrification of the Wolverhampton-Shrewsbury line could play in the Union Connectivity Review.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Union Connectivity Review is an independent review led by Sir Peter Hendy, the focus of which is on improving connectivity between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UCR is therefore focussing on national strategic transport corridors across the UK and I look forward to the outcomes of the review.

West Midlands Rail Franchise: Electrification

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential benefit of electrifying the Shrewsbury-Wolverhampton railway route to the Government's net zero agenda.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department has not made a detailed assessment of the benefits of electrification between Shrewsbury and Wolverhampton.Further electrification of the network will play an important role in our plans to decarbonise the railway between now and 2050. As we decarbonise the railway, we will develop individual schemes carefully to deliver both decarbonisation and other benefits in a way that delivers value for money and ensures affordability.

Electric Scooters: Speed Limits

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to implement a different speed limit for e-scooters on roads and cycle paths.

Rachel Maclean: Local authorities control how the trials run in their areas. This includes limiting the number e-scooters, specifying where they should be parked and deciding on appropriate speed limits, up to a maximum of 15.5 mph, for different areas of the trial. Operators as part of the trials, use geo-fencing technology to control e-scooters. This includes the e-scooter slowing down, stopping when ridden in a no-go area, and limiting the speed (usually to 8mph) in go-slow areas. There are currently no plans to require trial areas to have different speed limits on roads and cycle lanes. The evidence gathered during the trials will inform whether e-scooters are legalised, and what their speed limits should be.

Northern Rail Franchise

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what representations he has received from the Mayor of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority on a Southport to Manchester Piccadilly direct rail service.

Chris Heaton-Harris: We received numerous representations about the potential changes to Southport to Manchester Piccadilly train service as part of the consultation on Manchester timetable changes that was held earlier this year, including from the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. These responses are still being considered.

Motor Vehicles: Noise

Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on trends and patterns in (a) vehicle noise measurements and (b) complaints about vehicle noise.

Rachel Maclean: The Department does not hold data on trends and patterns in vehicle noise measurements, but commissioned research in 2018 to better understand the prevalence of excessive vehicle noise and the options for reducing it. The Department has seen an increase in the number of enquiries about vehicle noise over the past three years. It should be noted that this trend cannot be reliably linked to a change in individual vehicle noise levels or to the prevalence of excessively noisy vehicles due to the subjective nature of vehicle noise complaints.

Transport: Carbon Emissions

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 19 April 2021 to Question 175754 on Rolling Stock: Diesel Engines, how much funding the Government has allocated to deliver its commitment of a net-zero transport system by 2050.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Our forthcoming Transport Decarbonisation Plan (TDP) will set out the scale and pace of rail decarbonisation necessary to deliver a net zero transport system by 2050. Decisions on funding for decarbonisation schemes and subsequent allocations will be made in the usual way to ensure that they are value for money and affordable.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant the Answer of 21 January to Question 138919, what discussions he has had with the DVSA on the proportion of (a) all garages and (b) independent garages that provide MOT pick-up and drop-off services for people who are staying at home due to the covid19; if he will publish guidance on what steps such car owners should take if they need to renew their MOT but cannot find a garage offering such a service; and if he will make a statement.

Rachel Maclean: The Department regularly discusses issues related to MOT testing with DVSA. It is estimated that at least 70% of all MOT testing stations offer these services, including all of the large chains. There are no current plans to issue guidance to drivers unable to find a garage offering this service. If motorists are unable to obtain a pick-up and drop-off service at their chosen garage, they can also ask a member of their support bubble to help. Any driver will need valid insurance cover for their use of the vehicle.

Bus Lanes

James Daly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who has statutory responsibility for suspending or removing an existing bus lane; and what the statutory procedure is for undertaking that action.

Rachel Maclean: Local traffic authorities have powers to install, suspend or remove bus lanes and are responsible for doing so on their road networks. This requires a Traffic Regulation Order. The process for making Orders is set out in the Local Authorities’ Traffic Orders (Procedure) (England and Wales) Regulations 1996. If a bus lane is to be removed, an Order will be required to revoke the original Order creating it.

Aviation and Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which countries he has had discussions with on the allocation and removal of emissions from international shipping and aviation.

Robert Courts: Reducing emissions from international shipping and aviation is a key priority for my Department. To ensure these emissions are accounted for consistently, the Government recently announced that the UK’s Sixth Carbon Budget will include international aviation and shipping emissions. Measures to address these emissions are best approached through international coordination, and Ministers and officials have regular engagement with international partners on efforts to drive decarbonisation in these sectors, particularly in the frameworks of both the International Maritime Organization and International Civil Aviation Organization.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what fiscal steps he is taking to encourage investment in clean maritime, as part of the Government's commitment to reducing emissions from international shipping.

Robert Courts: On 22 March my Department launched a £20 million Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition. This supports the design and development of clean maritime technology, such as feasibility studies and technology trials, fast-tracking maritime decarbonisation in the UK. This competition builds on the vision set out in the Department’s Clean Maritime Plan, published in 2019, and underlines our legislative commitment to addressing UK domestic and international shipping emissions.

Shipping: Exhaust Emissions

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what meetings his Department has held with the representatives of the UK maritime sector on reducing emissions from that sector, as part of the Government's commitment to reducing emissions from international shipping.

Robert Courts: The Department regularly engages the UK maritime sector on matters important to them, including emissions reduction. We engage with a range of representatives of the maritime industry in the context of our work at the International Maritime Organization and our preparations for COP 26. We also continue to meet on a regular basis with the Clean Maritime Council to discuss decarbonisation efforts for both domestic and international shipping.

Taxis: Standards

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the need to ease the potential additional financial burden on the private hire and taxi industry resulting from new industry standards.

Rachel Maclean: A full impact assessment was published alongside the Statutory Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Standards in July 2020. This found that if the full cost of the Standards was passed on to drivers, the increased cost would be £62.24 per driver per year which would equate to a three pence increase per fare.

Road Traffic Control

James Daly: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what Government support is available to support the provision of (a) fixed speed cameras and (b) other traffic calming measures in (i) Bury North constituency and (ii) England.

Rachel Maclean: The Department provides £258 million/year (£260 million in 21/22) to local highways authorities in England, outside London, through the Integrated Transport Block for small scale transport schemes, including road safety measures. The Integrated Transport Block is not ring-fenced, allowing authorities to spend their allocations according to their own priorities. It is therefore for each authority to decide how it allocates its resources and which transport improvement projects to support. Bury Council is part of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA), which retains an increased proportion of business rates in 2021-22 in place of the Integrated Transport Block.

Transport for the North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 14 April 2021 to Question 175757 on Transport for the North, what the dates were of those meetings held between the Minister of State of his Department and representatives of Transport for the North.

Andrew Stephenson: Departmental transparency returns will include the dates of ministerial meetings with Transport for the North (TfN) representatives. Ministerial colleagues and I frequently meet with northern stakeholders, including TfN Board members, on a range of matters.

Road Traffic: Forecasts

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to publish revised national road traffic forecasts to replace those 2018 forecasts that predate the net zero target.

Rachel Maclean: Road Traffic Forecasts 2018 presented the latest forecasts for traffic demand, congestion and emissions in England and Wales up to the year 2050. These were produced using the Department for Transport’s National Transport Model (NTM). Whilst there are no immediate plans to publish an update, the Department regularly reviews and evaluates the evidence base on the drivers of demand and sources of uncertainty. The next update will explore the possible range of impacts resulting from net zero targets.

West Midlands Rail Franchise

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the benefit of running an hourly train service from Shrewsbury to London in realising the benefits of rail capacity released by HS2.

Andrew Stephenson: No decisions have yet been taken on the train services that will operate after HS2 services start running. These decisions will be taken nearer the time, drawing on advice from West Coast Partnership Development and Network Rail, and will be subject to public consultation.

Roads: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to improve the condition of roads in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.

Rachel Maclean: The Department for Transport is providing (a) Stoke-on-Trent with over £4.6 million, and (b) Staffordshire with over £28 million through highways maintenance funding, pothole fund, and integrated transport block funding in 21/22. It is for each Council to decide on how this funding, allocated through formula, is utilised based on their respective highway asset management strategy, needs, and priorities. Recent additional investments include £5 million for Stoke-on-Trent Council’s ‘Keep Stoke Moving’ key corridor Challenge Fund bid won in February 2020, and £2.35 million for Staffordshire County Council to upgrade Chetwynd Bridge, a historic Grade II* structure.

Department for Transport: Contact Tracing

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has allocated any financial or other resources from his Department's budget to investigate potential future uses by his Department of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to use the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on using the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Department fully supports the NHS Test and Trace system and has been investigating ways that the system can be used on the transport network to play its part in tackling Covid-19. We have been working closely with the Department for Health and Social Care to understand how best the system can be used going forward. Some areas across the Departmental Group have already introduced using QR codes within their public only areas. Currently, the Department has not needed to allocate any financial resource from its budget. However, as policy and the technology develops, this will be kept under review. It is also worth noting that Test and Trace data will only be used to tackle Covid and won’t be used for other purposes.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties and  Insurance

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on enforcement action against (a) untaxed and (b) uninsured vehicles.

John Spellar: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking on untaxed vehicles without a statutory off road notification which are parked on private land.

Rachel Maclean: The DVLA operates a comprehensive package of measures to tackle vehicle excise duty evasion. These range from reminder letters, penalties and court prosecutions through to the use of Automatic Number Plate Recognition cameras, wheelclamping and the removal of unlicensed vehicles. It is an offence to keep an unlicensed and/or uninsured vehicle. During the initial stages of the pandemic, the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) took a pragmatic approach to enforcement action. This ensured that those impacted by the pandemic were not further disadvantaged and that a vehicle that might have been needed in an emergency was not immobilised or removed. However, the onus remains with the registered keeper of a vehicle to ensure that their legal obligations are fulfilled and that vehicles are licensed on time and covered by an appropriate insurance policy. Unlicensed vehicles kept in certain off-road areas can be subject to enforcement action. These locations include, but are not limited to, public house car parks, private and municipal car parks, retail car parks, housing association roads, unadopted/privately maintained roads and common land. However, enforcement action cannot be taken against unlicensed vehicles being kept on land associated with a dwelling, for example a driveway.

West Midlands Rail Franchise

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect of (a) running an hourly train service from London to Shrewsbury and (b) electrifying the route between Wolverhampton and Shrewsbury on (i) the economy and (ii) jobs in Shrewsbury and Atcham constituency.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Midlands Connect is preparing a strategic review of options for speeding up and additional services to Shrewsbury. It expects to publish the review later this year and this will form the basis for specific proposals to improve the service. No formal assessment has been made by the Department at this time. Electrification will play an important role in our programme to achieve our Net Zero 2050 objective. As we develop our rail decarbonisation programme, we will carefully consider the opportunity to support local economic development.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Business Interests

Edward Miliband: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any officials in his Department receive any remuneration for paid work for organisations or companies outside of Government.

Amanda Solloway: On 23 April, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the management of outside interests in the Civil Service.The Committee published this letter on 26 April. It can be found here:https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5623/documents/55584/default/.The Cabinet Secretary’s letter sets out a series of steps to improve processes. This programme of work will also take account of any recommendations that emerge from Nigel Boardman’s review.The Civil Service Management Code sets out, at paragraph 4.3.4, the requirement that civil servants must seek permission before accepting any outside employment which might affect their work either directly or indirectly. The applicable principles are those set out in the Business Appointment Rules. The Civil Service Management Code is published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-terms-and-conditions.Where the civil servant is a member of the departmental board any outside employment, as well as other relevant interests will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts or other transparency publication.

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to allocate funding for a pilot trialling hydrogen-based steelmaking in the UK.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Government recognises the importance of research and development in helping to transform the steel sector so that it can play a vital role in developing a cleaner, greener economy in the UK. Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the Government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy, published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’.Our current Government initiatives include:Up to £66m as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to help key foundation industries, such as steel, develop innovative technology to reduce energy and resource use;£22m to the Materials Processing Institute in Teesside to deliver a R&D programme of transformative manufacturing - to help UK steel and metals sector improve efficiencies, cut emissions and ultimately boost its global competitive edge;Plans to establish a Net Zero Hydrogen Fund (previously Low Carbon Hydrogen Production Fund): with £240m of capital co-investment out to 2024/25. This will support at-scale hydrogen production projects, allowing companies, such as steel producers, the potential to access to secure supplies of lower cost hydrogen;More broadly, the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio provides funding for low carbon technologies and systems to support decarbonising our power, homes and industry as set out in the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution.

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the progress made in (a) Germany, (b) Sweden and (c) China on hydrogen-based steelmaking.

Nadhim Zahawi: Hydrogen-based steelmaking is one potential way to decarbonise steel production. Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution and, as part of the UK’s ongoing engagement in key international initiatives focused on industry decarbonisation, we are engaging with a range of stakeholders in Germany, Sweden and China (as well as other countries) to better understand the latest plans to decarbonise steel production. This includes engagement under Mission Innovation, the Clean Energy Ministerial, and the Leadership Group for Industry Transition.

Iron and Steel: Procurement

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to encourage UK firms and manufacturers to use British steel.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department is actively supporting the UK steel sector to ensure it is in the best position to benefit from future market opportunities, including domestic opportunities which are estimated to be worth £3.8 billion a year by 2030. We have published a steel pipeline signalling upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure, which are estimated to require around 5 million tonnes of steel over the next decade. We have established a new joint industry and BEIS Steel Procurement Taskforce (launched on 12 March) with the aim of working with the sector to promote the unique selling points of UK steel and explore how best to support and position the industry for success in forthcoming major public contracts.

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits using hydrogen-based steelmaking to help the (a) British steel industry to decarbonise and (b) UK to meet its target of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Nadhim Zahawi: Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy[1], published on 17 March, commits government to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen, electrification, and carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) are the main technological options being examined as part of this process. The industry decarbonisation pathways technical annex of the strategy (pg. 153-155) presents two possible options for the decarbonisation of the iron and steel industry:The first option shows fuel switching to hydrogen and electric arc furnace. This suggests abatement potential from hydrogen fuel switching of 3.9 MtCO2e and 3.5 MtCO2e of electric fuel switching by 2050.The second option shows the abatement potential of carbon capture utilisation and storage (abatement of 6.7 Mt CO2e).[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/industrial-decarbonisation-strategy

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to help the British steel industry to decarbonise.

Nadhim Zahawi: Decarbonising UK industry is a core part of the government’s ambitious plan for the green industrial revolution. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy published on 17 March, commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Our recent and on-going work to support the steel sector includes:o Announcing the £250m Clean Steel Fund to support the decarbonisation of the steel sector, including its transition to new low carbon technologies and processes.o The Industrial Energy Transformation Fund. This £315m fund aims to support businesses, including those in the steel sector, with high energy use to cut their bills and reduce carbon emissions.o The newly re-constituted Steel Council offers the forum for government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future.

Iron and Steel: Manufacturing Industries

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of hydrogen-based steelmaking on the commercial viability of the British steel industry.

Nadhim Zahawi: Our new Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy sets out, for the first time, the Government’s comprehensive assessment of how industry, including the steel sector, can decarbonise in line with net zero, in a way that supports competitiveness and clean growth. The newly re-constituted Steel Council offers the forum for government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future. The Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy commits to work with the Steel Council to consider the implications of the recommendation of the Climate Change Committee to ‘set targets for ore-based steelmaking to reach near-zero emissions by 2035’. Hydrogen is one of the technological approaches being considered as part of this process.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Oxford/AstraZenica vaccines were exported from the UK to Australia in late February and early March 2021.

Nadhim Zahawi: The details of any commercial vaccine supply agreements between national governments and AstraZeneca are a matter for those two parties.

Centrica: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will assist the hon. Member for West Lancashire in securing a response from the Chief Executive of Centrica plc, to a letter dated 19 February 2021 on a constituent's utility and repair bills, reference ZA55579.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Department has no record of being sighted on the letter dated 19 February 2021 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire to the Chief Executive of Centrica plc.

Employment: Inspections

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many workplace inspections were carried out by the (a) Employment Standards Agency Inspectorate, (b) HMRC National Minimum Wage enforcement team, (c) Health and Safety Executive and (d) Gangmaster Labour Abuse Authority for the annual reporting period 2020-21.

Paul Scully: All bodies continued to carry out workplace inspections throughout 2020-21, either remotely or face to face in line with Covid safety guidelines. Please see the figures in the table below. BodyNumber of workplace inspections in 2020-21Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate151HMRC National Minimum Wage2,740Health and Safety Executive14,754 workplace inspections 182,610 spot checksGangmaster Labour Abuse Authority440

Public Sector: Procurement

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what comparative assessment he has made of the procurement rules for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and those under UK's Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Amanda Solloway: In designing ARIA, we have considered international comparators including the Defense Research Projects Agency (DARPA) in the US. DARPA benefits from autonomy and flexibility outside the standard government contracting and granting standards. Flexibility is a core element of the DARPA model, and its history of success in the US. ARIA is not intended to replicate DARPA - but DARPA has flexibilities that will benefit ARIA in the UK context.

Foreign Investment in UK: National Security

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an estimate of the number of notifications his Department will receive under the National Security and Investment regime in response to changes made to the Bill at Report Stage.

Paul Scully: On the basis the available data, which is limited to evidence from: Capital IQ on mergers and acquisitions with a value of £1 million and above; Pitchbook on transactions with a value below £1 million, and; Orbis on the number of indirect mergers and acquisitions, the removal of the 15% mandatory notification threshold from the National Security and Investment Bill is assessed as de minimis. Nonetheless, we do expect this to reduce the number of acquisitions subject to mandatory notification.

Carbon Budgets

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Carbon Budget Order 2021 laid on 21 April 2021, what plans he has  publish a statement to fulfil legislative requirements; and what his timescale is for publishing that statement.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: On 21 April we laid legislation for the UK’s sixth carbon budget, proposing a world-leading target which would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 78% by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. This is in line with the latest science as the level recommended by our expert advisers at the Climate Change Committee.The statutory instrument can be found here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2021/9780348222616/introduction,alongside a full impact assessment here:https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2021/9780348222616/impacts. We will publish our policies and proposals to meet the sixth carbon budget, and existing carbon budgets, in due course, as required by the Climate Change Act.

Help to Grow Scheme

Matt Vickers: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the criteria are for businesses to access the Government’s Help to Grow: management scheme.

Paul Scully: The Help to Grow: Management programme is open to senior business leaders with between 5 to 249 employees that have been trading for over 1 year. Applications are welcome from businesses across all sectors, including social enterprises.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Contact Tracing

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether he has allocated any financial or other resources from his Department's budget to investigate potential future uses by his Department of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Amanda Solloway: To date, no financial or other resources have been allocated from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s (BEIS) budget to investigate potential future uses by the department of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Contact Tracing

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department plans to use the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Amanda Solloway: The corporate functions of the Department do not have access to the NHS Test and Trace database system. The Department therefore does not currently plan to use it.

Sharing Economy: Conditions of Employment

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of bringing forward legislative proposals to require gig workers to have the same rights as permanent employees.

Paul Scully: This Government is clear that that everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work and rewarded for their contribution to the economy, both in terms of fair pay and fair working conditions. An individual’s entitlement to rights at work, including those who work in the gig economy, is determined by their employment status, employee, worker or self-employed. Employees are entitled to all rights (subject to qualifying periods) and have responsibilities towards their employer. So-called Limb (b) workers are only entitled to some rights but have increased flexibility. The self-employed generally have no employment rights but have complete flexibility in their work. The Government will continue to work closely with stakeholders to ensure that any options to clarify Employment Status are effective, preserving the flexibility of the labour market while making it easier to understand for individuals.

Cleaning Services: Additional Restrictions Grant

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what proportion of local authorities have included dry cleaning businesses in their Additional Restrictions Grant schemes; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Scully: The Additional Restrictions Grant (ARG) is a discretionary fund managed by Local Authorities. Local Authorities are free to put in place the support schemes they deem appropriate to their local economic circumstances. They may also spend ARG until the end of the 2021/22 financial year. The Department does not collate details of which sectors and sub-sectors are eligible for support in each Local Authority area.

UK Trade with EU: Imports

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring UK-facing online marketplaces to warn consumers before accepting payment that orders fulfilled from EU countries may be subject to (a) customs charges, (b) import VAT and (c) increased courier handling charges; and if he will ensure that those charges are made clear to the consumer at the point of order.

Paul Scully: The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 requires traders to provide information on the total price of goods or services, inclusive of any applicable or additional taxes or delivery charges, at the point of sale. Where the total price of the goods or services, including any additional taxes or delivery charges cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, such as cross-border transactions, the manner in which the price is to be calculated must instead be communicated. This information must be given to the consumer in a clear and comprehensible manner, along with the right to cancel if this exists. Any information that the trader gives the consumer as required by these requirements are to be treated as included as a term of the contract. Changes to any of this information, made before entering into the contract or later, are not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.

Green Homes Grant Scheme

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) jobs and (b) businesses of the decision to cancel the Green Homes Grant; and if he will place a copy of that assessment in the Library.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: An evaluation of the effectiveness of the voucher scheme, including a comprehensive analysis of scheme outcomes and evidence collected from scheme applicants and other stakeholders is being undertaken. Ipsos MORI, an independent research organisation, was contracted in December 2020 to undertake the evaluation. The review will include an assessment of the effect of the Green Homes Grant Voucher Scheme on jobs, with initial findings delivered later this year.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Business Interests

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Attorney General, whether officials in his Department have received remuneration for paid work for organisations or companies outside of Government in the latest period for which data is available.

Lucy Frazer: On 23 April, the Cabinet Secretary wrote to the Chair of the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the management of outside interests in the Civil Service. The Committee published this letter on 26 April. It can be found here:https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/5623/documents/55584/default/ The Cabinet Secretary’s letter sets out a series of steps to improve processes. This programme of work will also take account of any recommendations that emerge from Nigel Boardman’s review. The Civil Service Management Code sets out, at paragraph 4.3.4, the requirement that civil servants must seek permission before accepting any outside employment which might affect their work either directly or indirectly. The applicable principles are those set out in the Business Appointment Rules. The Civil Service Management Code is published here:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/civil-servants-terms-and-conditions Where the civil servant is a member of the departmental board any outside employment, as well as other relevant interests will be published as part of the Annual Report and Accounts or other transparency publication.

Department of Health and Social Care

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to further extend the contract with Serco for NHS test and trace; and whether a further extension will breach the maximum value as stated in the original contract.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the cost to the public purse is of the contract with Serco for NHS test and trade for the (a) initial 14-week period and (b) all subsequent extensions of that contract.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Contact Tracing

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long the contract with Serco for NHS test and trace has been extended beyond the initial 14-week period.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the rate of false negatives produced by lateral flow covid tests.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Coronavirus

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the cost of PCR tests for air passengers; and what assessment he has made of the effect of that cost on air passengers in financial difficulty.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Department of Education's press release, £79 million to boost mental health support for children and young people, published on 5 March 2021, what plans his Department has to provide mental health and wellbeing support to schools that will not be covered by one of the new mental health support teams.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Schools: Mental Health Services

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Department for Education's announcement of £79 million to boost mental health support for children and young people on 5 March 2021, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) schools and (b) students in London that will have access to a mental health support team following the announcement of that funding.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment her Department has made of the quality of the testing service provided by Qured; how many complaints his Department has received on that company's service relating to covid-19 hotel quarantine; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Ventilators

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many ventilators were built by Dyson for the NHS; and how many of those ventilators were used.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Travel: Quarantine

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to support British citizens and residents returning from red list travel ban countries who are unable to meet the costs of mandatory hotel quarantine and who are not in receipt on income-related benefits.

Jo Churchill: For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of these costs, there is an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking. We have updated the guidance on GOV.UK as it previously referred only to those on income-related benefits.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will (a) review the list of conditions for exemption from prescription charges and (b) include (i) cystic fibrosis and (ii) other serious life-long debilitating medical conditions that do not currently qualify for free prescriptions as part of that review.

Jo Churchill: The Government has no plans to review or extend the prescription charge medical exemptions list. Around 89% of prescriptions are dispensed free of charge and extensive arrangements are already in place to help people, including those with cystic fibrosis and other life-long medical conditions. To support those with the greatest need who do not qualify for an exemption, they can spread the cost of their prescriptions by purchasing prescription pre-payment certificates. A holder of a 12-month certificate can get all the prescriptions they need for just over £2 per week.

Addictions: Departmental Coordination

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress the Government has made on the cross-government addiction strategy, announced on 28 November 2019.

Jo Churchill: Work on the cross-Government addiction strategy was paused during the COVID-19 pandemic but has now resumed.

Travel: Quarantine

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a helpline to support people who are travelling to the UK and are required to quarantine in a managed hotel, in the event that they have urgent enquiries which are not addressed in the Government guidance.

Jo Churchill: The Government does not currently plan to introduce a help line for the Managed Quarantine Service.

Coronavirus: Screening

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long lateral flow tests for Covid-19 will remain free to members of the public.

Jo Churchill: From 9 April everyone in England has been able to access free COVID-19 testing and there are currently no plans to end free testing using lateral flow devices.

Joint Biosecurity Centre

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the list of bodies with whom the Joint Biosecurity Centre will be permitted to share data.

Jo Churchill: The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) does not currently have any outward data sharing agreements itself. The JBC is a division of NHS Test and Trace. NHS Test and Trace’s overarching privacy notice sets out the bodies with which there are outward personal data sharing agreements with all its divisions, including the JBC. The privacy notice is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nhs-test-and-trace-privacy-information/test-and-trace-overarching-privacy-notice

Pregnancy: Screening

Anne Marie Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 13 April 2021 to Question 174841 on Pregnancy: Screening, what the (a) timelines, (b) milestones and (c) success criteria are for the evaluative rollout referenced in that Answer.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Screening

Mr Steve Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the relationship between the prevalence of covid-19 and the number of lateral flow tests required to be conducted on asymptomatic people to find a single positive covid-19 case; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details of contracts with Supermax Healthcare Ltd for the supply of personal protective equipment to the NHS, including (a) when those contracts were awarded and (b) when they will expire.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Services: Weather

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional hospital beds the Government estimates will be available in winter 2021-22 compared to the previous winter.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Accident and Emergency Departments: Weather

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans are in place to ensure that NHS emergency departments are prepared for Winter 2021-22.

Edward Argar: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details of the contracts with Unispace Global Ltd to supply the NHS with personal protective equipment including (a) when those contracts were awarded and (b) when they will expire.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of patients who have been prescribed anti-psychotic drugs who go on to develop Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS); and what information he holds on the number of people whose autotopsy revealed NMS as a cause of death and who had not received a diagnosis for that disorder.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS Trusts: Standards

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many prosecutions the Care Quality Commission has brought against (a) Nottingham University Hospitals Trust and (b) all NHS trusts in England for failure to comply with the duty of candour in each year since those regulations came into force.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details of contracts with Ansell Ltd for the supply of personal protective equipment to the NHS, including (a) when those contracts were awarded and (b) when they will expire.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish details of contracts with Aurelia Ltd for the supply of personal protective equipment to the NHS, including (a) when those contracts were awarded and (b) when they will expire.

Jo Churchill: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Hospitals: Construction

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish (a) the opening date and (b) the life expectancy of each building constructed as part of a Best Buy Hospital.

Edward Argar: The Best Buy hospitals were launched in 1967. They include:- Frimley Park 1974;- West Suffolk 1974;- James Paget 1981 and 1984;- Hinchingbrooke 1984; and- Queen Elizabeth 1980.The life expectancy of buildings will depend on their original construction and this will be affected by many parameters, including the quality of the maintenance such as water tightness and adaptions or refurbishment made during their usage. Individual National Health Service organisations are responsible for maintaining the estates that they own.

Members: Correspondence

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 15 January 2021 from the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston on covid-19 vaccinations for clinically extremely vulnerable children.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 26 April.

Members: Correspondence

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 24 February 2021 from the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston, reference PO-1272489.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 26 April 2021.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people have not received their second dose of the (a) Pfizer/BioNTech and (b) Oxford/AstraZeneca covid-19 vaccination within 12 weeks of receiving their first dose.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information is not currently held in the format requested.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Public Health England on requiring NHS and social care staff to have the covid-19 vaccine in order to keep patients and care residents safe.

Nadhim Zahawi: There are have been no such discussions.On 14 April, the Government launched a five-week consultation to inform decision making on whether vaccination should be a condition of employment at older adult care home providers.However, there are currently no plans to make vaccination a condition of employment in the National Health Service.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the guidance that his Department has issued to clinical commissioning groups on releasing local covid-19 vaccination data.

Nadhim Zahawi: No specific guidance has been issued to clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) on releasing local COVID-19 vaccination data. National Health Service vaccination services use the National Immunisation Management System (NIMS) for recording and reporting vaccination data. Data is drawn from NIMS to create the published daily and weekly vaccination numbers and updates which is available at the following links: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/vaccinations https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/ The weekly data includes vaccinations at various local and regional levels, including by CCG and parliamentary constituency.

Prisons and Probation: Coronavirus

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 17 March 2021 to Question 138422 and the Answer of 16 March 2021 to Question 154909, if he will publish recent data on the vaccination rates for (a) directly employed prison staff, (b) non-directly employed people who work within prisons, (c) probation staff who have direct contact with service users and (d) prisoners.

Nadhim Zahawi: We do not currently centrally hold data on the vaccination rates for directly employed prison staff, non-directly employed people who work within prisons or probation staff. As of 19 April 2021 we have administered 23,281 first doses to prisoners eligible for vaccination during phase one. This represents an estimated 85% of eligible prisoners. In addition, 780 prisoners have received second doses which is 3.4% of the first dose total and includes some prisoners having a second dose in prison after a first dose in the community.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate he has made of covid-19 vaccine uptake rates among (a) NHS staff and (b) staff in care homes.

Mrs Flick Drummond: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to maximise covid-19 vaccination uptake among front-line health and care staff.

Nadhim Zahawi: NHS England publishes data on the number of COVID-19 vaccinations in total since vaccinations began and to the current eligible population on a weekly basis. Published data shows 80% of care home staff have received their first dose of the vaccine and the latest weekly data published 22 April 2021 shows over 65% of National Health Service trust health care workers in the NHS Electronic Staff Record have received the second dose of their vaccine or 945,776 out of 1,378,502. The data available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/The NHS, with local and regional delivery partners, is encouraging people in all communities to come forward and accept the offer of vaccination. On 13 February we published the UK COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Plan. A priority for the uptake strategy is to increase the rate of vaccination amongst health and social care staff. We know that the reasons health and social care workers feel hesitant include a lack of knowledge about the vaccine, misinformation and mistrust of Government and perceptions of equality and discrimination in health and public services. We are working at a local and national level to give health and social care workers information about the vaccine in a format that connects with them, to share information from trusted, local leaders who understand people’s specific circumstances and to ensure there is appropriate outreach from clinicians and their vaccine services.COVID-19 vaccines are not currently mandated for any groups, but the Government strongly encourages health and social care workers to be vaccinated in order to protect those that they care for. On 14 April, Government launched a five-week consultation to inform decision making about whether to make vaccination a condition of employment for staff working in older adult care home providers. The consultation was launched as, despite efforts to address concerns among the adult social care workforce, vaccine uptake amongst care home workers remains lower than the recommended level to minimise COVID-19 outbreaks. All care home workers, including those aged 16 and 17 years old, who would like to be vaccinated can contact their general practitioner.

Influenza: Vaccination

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many doses of flucelvax have been procured for winter 2021-22.

Nadhim Zahawi: Local providers are responsible for the procurement of flu vaccines. The Department has not procured any adult flu vaccines for a central stock for the upcoming winter. Information with regard to the amount of flucelvax which has been procured locally is commercially sensitive.

Cancer: Drugs

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which cancer drugs are currently being considered by Project Orbis.

Jo Churchill: Information on cancer drugs currently being considered under Project Orbis is considered commercially confidential.

Cancer: Coronavirus

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cancer related appointments and treatment sessions have been postponed as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many cancer related appointments and treatment sessions have been postponed at Stepping Hill hospital as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: The data requested on postponed care is not collected centrally.

NHS Test and Trace: Complaints

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish data on the number of complaints made (a) by and (b) on behalf of patients in respect of the NHS Test and Trace programme.

Jo Churchill: The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Coronavirus: Health Services

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the number of people that have used the Your COVID Recovery online service since July 2020.

Jo Churchill: Since July 2020, over 1.2 million users have accessed the ‘Your Covid Recovery’ service.

Travel: Quarantine

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of adding further ports of entry in the north for travellers required to quarantine in quarantine hotels.

Jo Churchill: There has been no formal assessment. The Government is keeping all measures under constant review, including any expansion of the list of designated ports.

Children: Coronavirus

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the extent of long-term health problems experienced by socially- isolated children during covid-19 lockdown.

Jo Churchill: Health visitors are ideally placed to identify and provide early intervention support to children aged 0 to five years old who experience long-term health problems through social isolation. School nurses, in partnership with other health and education professionals, can help identify and support children aged five to 19 years old with long-term conditions or complex needs arising from social isolation. As a first point of contact, general practitioners (GPs) have a crucial role to play in identifying long-term conditions when children attend GP appointments.

Psilocybin

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what support he is providing to innovative research into using psilocybin to treat depression.

Edward Argar: The Department, through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) has funded or supported various studies into the use of psilocybin to treat depression. The NIHR’s Research Programmes has invested £1.1 million in the study ‘A Feasibility RCT of Single-Dose Psilocybin in Unipolar Depressive Disorder Resistant to Standard Treatments’.

Health Services and Social Services: Standards

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of whether the powers of local authorities to scrutinise NHS service reconfigurations would be diminished as a result of proposals in the Integration and Innovation White Paper.

Edward Argar: Under the proposed changes to the reconfiguration process, local authorities would continue to play an important role in the scrutiny process, taking into account the effect of proposed reconfigurations on service quality and patient safety and systems should continue to aim to resolve reconfiguration issues locally. In cases where this could not be achieved, it would remain possible for local authorities to request that the Secretary of State looks at cases they are not content with.

Dementia: Rehabilitation

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for a multi-disciplinary approach to rehabilitation for people affected by dementia following the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: NHS England and NHS Improvement are committed to delivering high quality care and support for every person with dementia and central to this is the provision of personalised care. This person-centred approach is set out in NHS England and NHS Improvement’s resource ‘Dementia wellbeing in the COVID-19 pandemic’ which is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/C0747_Dementia-wellbeing-in-the-COVID-19-pandemic.pdf This resource accompanies the ‘Well Pathway for Dementia’ and sets out the adjustments and amendments needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, including specific considerations for rehabilitation. Key priorities and actions for support are included for each step in the pathway. These initiatives will support people living with dementia in care homes and in the community.

Social Services: Staff

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the workload of social care staff working sleep-in shifts.

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the average number of hours that social care staff on sleep-in shifts spend (a) working and (b)sleeping.

Helen Whately: We have made no such assessment.

Learning Disability: Finance

Kate Hollern: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the level of additional funding that the Association of Directors of Adult Social Care has identified that local authorities require to support people with learning disabilities.

Helen Whately: Councils are being provided with access to over £1 billion of additional funding for social care in 2021-22. This includes £300 million of new grant funding for social care, on top of the £1 billion social care grant announced last year. Longer term funding decisions on social care beyond 2021-22 will be decided at the next Spending Review.

NHS: Staff

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total cost to the NHS was of using (a) agency staff and (b) bank staff (i) for each quarter and (ii) in total for 2020-21.

Helen Whately: The following table shows expenditure on agency and bank staff in National Health Service trusts for the first three quarters of the financial year 2020-21. Agency staffBank staffQuarter 1£537,442,477£987,839,313Quarter 2£563,825,034£1,027,155,620Quarter 3£625,646,943£1,172,794,134 Data for Quarter 4 will be available at the end of April 2021, therefore the total cost for 2020-21 is not yet available.

Abortion

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the his Department's response of 1 October 2020 to Freedom of Information request FOI-1250644, whether the Government has plans to prosecute abortion providers for enabling women to take abortion pills beyond the 10-week gestation period limit.

Helen Whately: The Abortion Act 1967 permits termination of a pregnancy by a registered medical practitioner subject to certain conditions. Decisions to bring a prosecution in relation to the law on abortion are for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, not the Government.

Epilepsy: Children and Young People

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to issue guidance on the mental health needs of children and young people with epilepsy to (a) schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities.

Helen Whately: There are no current plans to issue specific guidance.

Counselling and Psychiatry: Domestic Abuse

Simon Jupp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to bring forward legislation to criminalise controlling or coercive behaviour by people providing psychotherapy or counselling services.

Helen Whately: We have no plans to do so.Anyone seeking out the services of a psychotherapist or counsellor can check that they are on an Accredited Voluntary Register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA). The PSA provides assurances of voluntary registers of health and care professionals and currently accredits 10 registers relating to psychotherapy and counselling covering around 50,000 talking therapy professionals.

Cerebral Palsy: Children

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what steps he is taking to work in partnership with NHS England and devolved health bodies to develop a high-quality, standardised national surveillance programme for preterm babies and infants who are at high risk of diagnosis of cerebral palsy.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if his Department will establish fully mapped out, costed and funded national care pathways between primary care and secondary and tertiary multidisciplinary centres of excellence for children with cerebral palsy and their families.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what steps he is taking to fund and ringfence streamlined pathways for children at risk of neurodisability.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if his Department will take steps to ensure that health authorities are required to implement the NICE Guidelines and Quality Standard as a minimum standard for the prompt referral of children with Cerebral Palsy to expert multidisciplinary teams.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that all care pathways include agreed and audited quality standards.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will ensure that referral-to-treatment timescales for cerebral palsy are tightened and minimised to facilitate rapid intervention at the earliest possible stage for a child.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will ensure that all families of children with cerebral palsy have access to expert services provided by the private or voluntary sectors in the event of inadequate provision or lengthy waiting times in the statutory sector for assessment and intervention.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will provide specific training for (a) GPs, (b) community paediatricians, (c) health visitors, (d) social workers and (e) other non-specialist health professionals to identify the early signs of cerebral palsy and associated neurodisabilities in infants.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what steps he is taking to improve systems of data collection on the incidence, diagnosis, medical history, developmental needs and outcomes of children with cerebral palsy.

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will create a national cerebral palsy register.

Helen Whately: No specific assessment has been made of these recommendations at this stage. However, NHS England and NHS Improvement will be meeting later in April to consider the report.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to launch an inquiry into covid-19 related deaths in care homes.

Helen Whately: The Government has been clear that there will be opportunities to reflect on all aspects of COVID-19. This will include an independent inquiry at the appropriate time.

Autism: Children

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that adequate funding is made available to support the physical and mental health of families of children with autism.

Helen Whately: As set out in the Mental Health Wellbeing and Recovery Plan published on 27 March 2021, there is an additional £31 million allocated in 2021/22 to improve support in the community for autistic adults and children and for people with a learning disability, with £3 million allocated for respite and short breaks aimed at helping families, including those of autistic children. During 2020/21 we allocated £3.6 million to voluntary sector organisations to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of autistic people, people with a learning disability and their families impacted by COVID-19 by funding services providing direct, practical support. We are refreshing the national autism strategy and extending its scope to include children and young people. The strategy, which we expect to publish this spring, will include actions to improve physical and mental health support for autistic children and their families.

Home Care Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he plans to take against domiciliary care companies that do not meet their contractual obligations in paying their staff or pension contributions on time.

Helen Whately: The vast majority of care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and conditions, independent of central Government. However, we do expect all employers to meet their legal and contractual obligations. The law requires employers to enrol all eligible workers into a qualifying workplace pension scheme and make at least a minimum contribution to their pension. The Pensions Regulator is responsible for maximising employer compliance.There is statutory protection for workers against unlawful deductions from wages, including complete non-payment. Workers who believe that unlawful deductions have been made from their wages may complain to an employment tribunal. Non-payment of wages is also likely to constitute a breach of contract and employees may be entitled to make a breach of contract claim through the civil courts or, if the employment has ended, the employment tribunals.

Health Services and Social Services: Standards

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Integration and Innovation: Working together to improve health and social care for all White Paper, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the introduction of a legal framework for a Discharge to Assess model on the wellbeing of unpaid carers in (a) Wirral and (b) England.

Helen Whately: Unpaid carers play a vital role in the care of those for whom they provide care. In 2019-2020, Wirral local authority supported or assessed 970 unpaid carers. There were approximately 7.7 million adult unpaid carers aged sixteen and over in England in 2020. Under the Discharge to Assess model, approximately 320,000-650,000 patients a year will be discharged home requiring minimal support from health and/or social care. The crucial role and rights of unpaid carers will be explicitly included in new guidance on discharge.

Dementia: Complementary Medicine

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to develop holistic treatment for people living with dementia.

Helen Whately: Personalised care and support planning is supported by ‘Dementia: Good Care Planning – information for primary care and commissioners’ which sets out the development of care and support planning following an initial holistic assessment of a person’s health and well-being needs within the context of their whole life and family situation. The guide is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/dementia-good-care-planning-information-for-primary-care-and-commissioners/ This holistic approach is also set out in ‘Dementia wellbeing in the COVID-19 pandemic’ resource which sets out the adjustments and amendments needed to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/C0747_Dementia-wellbeing-in-the-COVID-19-pandemic.pdf

Social Services: Minimum Wage

Imran Hussain: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to bring forward legislation proposals for sleep-in shifts in the social care sector to be considered working time for the purposes of calculating compliance with the National Minimum Wage.

Helen Whately: The Supreme Court has upheld the Court of Appeal judgment where workers on ‘sleep-in’ shifts are entitled to the minimum wage for the time they are awake for the purpose of working. The Government is working closely with local authorities and providers in order to consider whether this judgement might have implications with respect to the provision of social care more generally.The Government is considering the implications of the judgement with care commissioners and providers to consider what action, if any, is needed. We have no plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend National Minimum Wage regulations.

Home Care Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance he has provided to the Care Quality Commission on examining the business history of providers of domiciliary care companies.

Helen Whately: The Care Quality Commission (CQC) acts to ensure that all adult social care providers seeking to register their services comply with the registration requirements set out in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and its associated regulations. The CQC (Registration) Regulations 2009 include a requirement that providers seeking to register are financially viable.In addition, the Care Act 2014 provides for the CQC to monitor the financial health of the largest and most difficult-to-replace adult social care providers, including qualifying domiciliary care providers, through the Market Oversight Scheme. The scope of these provisions is set out by the Department in the Care Act 2014 statutory guidance.

Home Care Services

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will support local authorities insourcing domiciliary and residential social care.

Helen Whately: The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to develop a diverse market in care and support services that meets the needs of their local communities and promotes the efficient and effective operation of the market for adult care and support as a whole.We support local authorities to manage their local markets effectively. This includes funding the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services to deliver the Care and Health Improvement Programme, an annual programme of support to local authorities. In addition, the Department has worked with sector partners to produce guidance and support about market shaping, which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/adult-social-care-market-shaping/adult-social-care-market-shaping

Autism: Children

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the (a) level and (b) adequacy of respite care provision, by county, for parents or guardians of children diagnosed with autism; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: Commissioning social care is a matter for local authorities, who have a duty to make sure there is a range of high-quality services in their area to meet local needs. As set out in the COVID-19 Mental Health Wellbeing and Recovery Plan published on 27 March 2021, there is an additional £31 million allocated in 2021/22 to improve support in the community for autistic adults and children and for people with a learning disability, with £3 million allocated for respite and short breaks aimed at helping families, including those of autistic children.

Hospices: Coronavirus

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of supplies of (a) personal protection equipment, (b) medicines, (c) equipment and (d) staff in hospices at the beginning of the covid-19 outbreak.

Helen Whately: We have made no formal assessment. However, we have worked closely with Hospice UK on behalf of hospices to ensure an understanding of the adequacy of these resources during the pandemic.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 4 January 2021, 8 February and 12 March 2021 on his constituent with reference JB30528.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 21 April 2021.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has issued to NHS staff on responding to patients who request a specific covid-19 vaccine.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Department has not issued specific guidance. NHS England and NHS Improvement have issued guidance to staff outlining relevant exemptions and contra-indications which might dictate the type of vaccine an individual should receive. Where there is doubt, rather than withholding vaccination, appropriate advice should be sought from the relevant specialist, or from the local immunisation or health protection team.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish all his communications with the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation on the decision to extend the maximum wait to receive the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech covid-19 vaccine to 12 weeks.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) are independent and advise the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care through published statements and letters on GOV.UK. The Secretary of State’s acceptance of their advice is also published on GOV.UK.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will publish the guidance given to Clinical Commissioning Groups on vaccinating patients who (a) have allergies and (b) use EpiPens but are not specifically allergic to the ingredients in the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: No specific guidance has been issued. Clinical commissioning groups should refer to Public Health England’s ‘Green Book’ Chapter 14a which covers who should be vaccinated. This is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/978508/Green_book_chapter_16April2021.pdfFollowing close surveillance of the COVID-19 vaccine programme, current guidance is that that individuals with a history of anaphylaxis to food, an identified drug or vaccine, or an insect sting can receive any COVID-19 vaccine, as long as they are not known to be allergic to any component of the vaccine.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance his Department has provided to facilities administering covid-19 vaccines on the efficacy of those vaccines for people on immunosuppressant medicines.

Nadhim Zahawi: Guidance on the administration of COVID-19 vaccines has been given to healthcare professionals in all facilities offering vaccinations. It includes information on the possible reduced efficacy on patients with immunosuppression and those on or starting a course of immunosuppressant medicine.Specialists may advise their patients based on their knowledge and understanding of their immune status and likely immune response to vaccination but should also consider the risk from COVID-19 and the patient’s likelihood of exposure.

NHS 111

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the efficacy of the NHS 111 First service.

Edward Argar: The NHS 111 First programme is successfully directing people to the most clinically appropriate service to meet their needs. This could include a pre-booked appointment at accident or emergency or another service. NHS England and NHS Improvement are aiming to complete a full evaluation of the services impact later this year.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the finding that there is variation between local authorities on the provision of covid-19 vaccines to special school staff in the School's Week article of 29 January 2021 entitled Councils cease initiative to give Covid-19 vaccine to special school staff, what assessment he has made of the reasons for the variations in provision of that vaccine; and if he will ensure that all special school staff throughout England have priority access to covid-19 vaccines in line with social care workers as set out by the advice of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.

Nadhim Zahawi: The Joint Committee on Immunisation and Vaccination (JCVI) is the independent body of scientists and clinical experts who advise the Government on prioritisation of vaccines at a population level. The JCVI recommended that frontline social care workers were prioritised for vaccination in phase one where they are at increased risk of transmitting that infection to multiple patients who are clinically vulnerable to COVID-19. This is with the underlying aim of ‘the prevention of COVID-19 mortality and the protection of health and social care systems’.The JCVI’s assessment of special school staff during phase one was that they were not prioritised as frontline care workers as there are very few cases where children and young people are considered to be clinically vulnerable to COVID-19. Public Health England’s Greenbook states that “children under 16 years of age, even if they are clinically extremely vulnerable, are at low risk of serious morbidity and mortality” from COVID-19. The JCVI advises that only children with severe neurodisabilities that require frequent residential care are considered to be clinically vulnerable to COVID-19. As such, special school staff are not considered to be at increased risk of transmitting that infection to individuals who are clinically vulnerable to COVID-19.Local authority Directors of Adult Social Services should have ultimate responsibility for identifying social care workers eligible for vaccine prioritisation and some local authorities may have identified specific staff who work closely and regularly with children who are clinically extremely vulnerable and are therefore eligible in phase one of the COVID-19 vaccination programme’s.

Coronavirus: Databases

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what are the proposed annual running costs for the contracts awarded to BAE Systems and Palantir Technology for the creation of covid-19 databases.

Helen Whately: The Department will publish audited annual accounts later this year on Test and Trace programme costs. The BAE Systems contract award notices are now published on Contracts Finder and can be found at the following links:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/34171774-d3db-42e8-ae21-f74294a38df5https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/9dc8a091-62f9-46ea-acdf-733c913583b8The value for each respective contract was £2.4 million and £4.3 million.The Palantir Technology contract award notice is now published on Contracts Finder and can be found at the following link:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/6d586696-365e-43f0-af63-1e3c0af32e41The contract value was £908,000.

Medical Records

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of reports that patient data has been wiped from the EMIS Web system; and what assessment he has made of the effect of the completeness of that data on covid-19 vaccine priority being correctly applied.

Nadhim Zahawi: Reports that patient data has been wiped from the EMIS web system are inaccurate and COVID-19 vaccine prioritisation has not been affected.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Paula Barker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department holds on the number of health and social care staff that have refused the covid-19 vaccination; if he will publish that data; and what plan his Department has to mitigate the risk that those staff pose to other people.

Nadhim Zahawi: Data on the number of health and social care staff who have not been vaccinated is not held centrally.On 13 February we published the UK COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake Plan, with the to increase the rate of vaccination amongst health and social care staff. Published data shows 79% of care home staff have received their first dose of the vaccine and the latest weekly data published on 15 April 2021 shows over half of National Health Service trust health care workers in the NHS Electronic Staff Record have received the second dose of their vaccine. The data is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/covid-19-vaccinations/Employers should consider how best to ensure those staff members and patients are safe. This could include measures such as the appropriate personal protective equipment is in place, infection control standards, appropriate training and that employees have an up to date risk assessment in place to identify their individual risks, taking into account latest Government and professional advice.

Baby Care Units: Nurses

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the findings of the National Neonatal Audit Programme, published November 2020, that 37 per cent of neonatal intensive care unit shifts met the qualified in speciality (QIS) specification for neonatal nurses in 2019, how many QIS trained neonatal nurses have been redeployed to the covid-19 vaccine programme; and what steps he plans to take to support units to backfill those specialist roles while vaccine rollout is ongoing.

Nadhim Zahawi: Data on the number of qualified in specialty trained nurses redeployed to the COVID-19 vaccine programme is not held centrally. To avoid the need for specialist roles to be backfilled, NHS England and NHS Improvement set out the expectation that local units take into account safe staffing levels when releasing members of staff to assist in the vaccination programme.

Ministers: Correspondence

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the average length of time his Department has taken to respond to ministerial correspondence in the latest period for which figures are available.

Edward Argar: We have made no specific assessment.

Pregnancy: Employment

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the new advice on covid-19 vaccination for pregnant women from Public Health England issued on 16 April 2021, what steps he is taking to issue updated guidance for pregnant employees; and when that guidance will be available.

Ms Nadine Dorries: We do not currently have plans to issue updated guidance for pregnant employees. Advice for pregnant employees was published by the Government, in partnership with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives and the Health and Safety Executive on 23 December 2020.The guidance sets out that if a woman is pregnant and has let their employer know in writing, the employer should carry out a risk assessment. Pregnant women of any gestation should not be required to continue working if this is not supported by the risk assessment.

NHS: Protective Clothing

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what contracts the NHS has for personal protective equipment with companies sourcing from Malaysian factories.

Jo Churchill: The Department has been supplied small quantities of examination and surgical gloves from Malaysian factories through a handful of intermediary suppliers.

Public Sector: Procurement

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the status is of the high-priority lane to assess and process potential personal protective equipment leads.

Jo Churchill: The high priority lane for the procurement of personal protective equipment has closed.

General Practitioners: Telephone Services

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2021 to Question 140238 on General Practitioners: Coronavirus, whether he has plans to collect data on GP phone reception capacity.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 29 January 2021 to Question 140238 on General Practitioners: Coronavirus, what steps he plans to take to reduce GP phone reception waiting times.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement advise that they have no plans to collect data on general practitioner phone capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement are working with a number of areas to test advanced telephony requirements and/or specifications, which will improve telephone capacity. NHS England and NHS Improvement intend to share learning from these areas to support practices across the country to improve telephony.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the correspondence of the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay of 29 January 2021 and chase up correspondence of 1 March and 1 April on constituent with reference JB31194.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 23 April 2021.

Members: Correspondence

Mr John Baron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 26 January 2021 and follow-up letters dated 1 March and 26 March 2021 from the hon. Member for Basildon and Billericay, regarding his constituent with reference JB31144.

Edward Argar: We replied to the hon. Member on 23 April 2021.

Travel: Quarantine

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will reduce the costs of British residents and citizens returning to the UK from red-list countries and their hotel quarantine for people who are unable to meet those costs.

Jo Churchill: The Government has no plans to provide funding for travel costs. For those facing significant financial hardship as a result of these there is an opportunity to apply for a deferred repayment plan when booking. We have set out how to apply for this on GOV.UK, in particular for individuals who receive income related benefits. We keep all our measures under constant review.

Coronavirus: Travel

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing an exemption for people travelling abroad for medical reasons to use NHS covid-19 tests for test to release once back in the UK.

Jo Churchill: The Government has no plans to permit the use of NHS Test and Trace COVID-19 tests for test to release. These tests are available for people who have symptoms of COVID-19 or who are clinically advised to take a COVID-19 test.Under the test to release scheme, arrivals can choose to pay for a private COVID-19 test, unless they have been in a country that is on the travel ban ‘red list’ in the 10 days before their arrival in England.

Coronavirus: Disease Control

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many variants of concern of covid-19 have been identified as being present in the UK in 2021.

Jo Churchill: In total there are four variants of concern that have been identified as present in the United Kingdom in 2021.

Travel: Quarantine

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential effect that introducing a hotel quarantine policy at the outset of the covid-19 pandemic would have had on the transmission of covid-19 in the UK.

Jo Churchill: We have made no such assessment.

Cancer: Drugs

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any applications have been submitted to the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency within the Project Orbis procedure.

Jo Churchill: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency has received five new drug applications and three new indication applications via Project Orbis since Jan 2021. At this time, these applications are still pending.

Travel: Quarantine

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how long his Department estimates the new international travel covid quarantine, enforcement and testing measures announced on 9 February will have to remain in force once the top nine vaccine priority groups have been vaccinated.

Jo Churchill: On 9 April the Global Travel Taskforce published its report setting out a framework for the safe return of international travel from 17 May at the earliest, including the introduction of a ‘traffic light’ system for England, with different requirements for travellers based on whether a country is categorised as red, amber or green. The system will be flexible and able to respond to changes in the level of risk. Measures will be formally reviewed on or before 28 June, 31 July and 1 October.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will reconsider the covid-19 quarantine restrictions for (a) seafarers and (b) people working in the offshore oil and gas industry.

Jo Churchill: All exemptions to the border measures are kept under regular review. The Government has introduced an exemption to managed quarantine for seamen and masters and inspectors and surveyors of ships. Offshore oil and gas workers must quarantine, but they can leave their accommodation when conducting the specific exempt activity or travelling directly to and from their accommodation and a location for the purposes of this work.

Deloitte: Written Questions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution of The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office on Public Procurement: Value for Money on 25 March 2021, and the commitment to investigate reports that Deloitte consultants are drafting responses for Ministers, if he will investigate (a) the delay in answering Question 149740 on Care Homes: Coronavirus tabled on 5 February 2021 and (b) other parliamentary questions referencing Deloitte.

Jo Churchill: The Department’s contract with Deloitte included a general clause to provide support to civil servants in responding to Written Questions. Deloitte consultants have not been directly responsible for drafting replies.We take parliamentary scrutiny incredibly seriously and it is fundamentally important that hon. Members are provided with accurate and timely information to enable them to hold the Government to account. We have been working rapidly to provide all Members with accurate answers despite an unprecedented volume of Written Questions during the pandemic.I refer the hon. Member to the answer of 25 March 2021 to Question 149740.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce covid-19 vaccine passports.

Jo Churchill: On 22 February, the Government committed to explore whether and how COVID-19 status certification might be used to reopen the economy, reduce restrictions on social contact and improve safety. COVID-19 status certification aims to provide reassurance that an individual is at reduced risk of transmission. The Government believes that status certification could have an important role to play both domestically and internationally, as a temporary measure. Equally, the Government wants to be sure that the benefits of any such approach are fully interrogated in public debate and that the deliverability of status certification is rigorously tested, along with analysis of the potential economic impacts that certification would have across different settings. We will continue to gather evidence on the extent to which COVID-19 status certification is an effective measure to control the epidemic and reduce hospitalisations and deaths. The Government will set out its conclusions from the review in advance of Step 4 of the roadmap in order to inform the safe reopening of society and the economy.

Prostate Cancer: Health Services

Craig Whittaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Integrated Care Systems (ICS) specifically cover prostate cancer as part of their local cancer recovery plans; and whether the (a) National Cancer Board and (b) Cancer Recovery Taskforce have plans to issue guidance to ICS on this matter.

Jo Churchill: Local systems, supported by Cancer Alliances, were asked to set recovery trajectories across all cancers and not for individual tumour types. Following NHS England’s publication of the 2021/22 Priorities and Operational Guidance in March 2021, Cancer Alliances have been asked to draw up a single delivery plan for all cancers, including prostate cancer, on behalf of their integrated care systems for April 2021 to September 2021.The Cancer Recovery Taskforce met for the final time in March 2021 and therefore will not issue any further guidance. The National Cancer Board continues to oversee further recovery of cancer services alongside delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan for cancer.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the planned timescale is for (a) consultation with stakeholders and (b) the roll-out of the new Innovative Medicines Fund.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence are developing proposals for the operation of the Fund and expect to engage with stakeholders on detailed plans later this year. Timescales for implementation of the Fund will be confirmed in due course.

Travel: Quarantine

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he has taken to ensure that the hotel covid-19 quarantine rules are consistent with UN Resolution A/75/L.37 on international cooperation to address challenges faced by seafarers as a result of the covid-19 pandemic to support global supply chains.

Jo Churchill: There is an exemption for seamen, masters, inspectors and surveyors of ships from managed quarantine which is consistent with the United Nations Resolution. The Government has introduced this exemption to ensure that vital services through freight routes and supply chains can continue, as well as providing for crew welfare.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if the Government will maintain the full exemption from covid-19 quarantine for seafarers.

Jo Churchill: The Government has maintained an exemption. Seamen, masters, inspectors and surveyors of ships returning from countries not on the ‘red list’ who live in the United Kingdom do not need to quarantine. If they live overseas, they must self-isolate in their accommodation while in England, except while they are undertaking the exempt activity or travelling as part of their work.Seamen, masters, inspectors and surveyors of ships who arrive from ‘red list’ countries are permitted to enter the UK and do not need to quarantine in a Government approved hotel, even if they have been in any country on the travel ban list in the previous 10 days.

Travel: Quarantine

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of seafarers who will be required to quarantine in hotels each week after arriving into the UK from red list countries during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: Seamen, masters, inspectors and surveyors of ships are not required to quarantine in hotels, even if they have been in any country on the travel ban ‘red list’ in the previous 10 days.

Cerebral Palsy: Children

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, if he will put in place three additional universal health visiting contacts at (a) three to five weeks, (b) three months and (c) three and half years to increase the opportunity for early detection of children with cerebral palsy and refer those children with early signs of that condition to specialised care pathways.

Jo Churchill: Five mandated health reviews for children aged 0 to five years old are offered to all families. However, mandated reviews are not the full extent of the health visiting service offer and additional contacts and reviews are considered where health visiting teams could respond to a family’s identified needs. Health visitors utilise their clinical judgement and can refer children to a specialist teams to assess for cerebral palsy if needed.

Coronavirus: Travel

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what criteria is used to place countries on the UK travel ban red list.

Jo Churchill: The Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) produces risk assessments of the spread of variants of concern internationally. These risk assessments cover a range of factors for each country including assessment of surveillance and sequencing capability, available surveillance and genome sequencing data, evidence of in-country community transmission of COVID-19 variants, evidence of exportation of new variants to the United Kingdom or other countries and travel connectivity with the UK.Decisions on the risk assessment are taken by Ministers and are informed by evidence including JBC’s analysis as well as other relevant information about the risk of the spread of variants.

Cancer: Health Services

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to encourage people to seek medical advice at the earliest possible opportunity in the event that they believe they are experiencing common symptoms of cancer.

Jo Churchill: It is vital that people seek medical advice at the earliest opportunity if they believe they are experiencing symptoms of cancer. In October, NHS England and NHS Improvement and Public Health England launched the latest ‘Help us help you’ campaign to urge people with potential symptoms of cancer to see their general practitioner. This campaign reinforces the message about the importance of seeking medical care if needed during the pandemic.

Azores: Coronavirus

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of current low levels of covid-19 infection in the Azores on its status as a red list country.

Jo Churchill: Azores was removed from England’s red list on 19 March. The flight and maritime ban from Portugal, including Madeira and the Azores, has also been removed, following evidence that shows the risk of importing a variant of concern from these destinations has reduced.

Pharmacy: Finance

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the (a) financial viability of the community pharmacy network in England and (b) adequacy of the interim covid-19 support package provided to that network; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Churchill: The Community Pharmacy Contractual Framework five-year deal, agreed in 2019 with the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), commits £2.592 billion annually to the sector. Maintaining access to pharmaceutical services is a priority for the Government and the Department continues to closely monitor the market. Discussions are ongoing with the PSNC about additional funding for costs incurred during the pandemic. As part of its ongoing assessment of COVID-19 costs incurred by the sector, the Government will take account of the £370 million increased advance payments paid to community pharmacies The COVID-19 support package for community pharmacy also included general COVID-19 business financial support, funding for Bank Holiday openings, social distancing measures, the medicine delivery service to shielded patients and free personal protective equipment; as well as non-monetary support, including the removal of some administrative tasks, flexibility in opening hours and the delayed introduction of new services.

Travel: Quarantine

Robin Millar: To ask the Secretary of State for the Health and Social Care, what plans he has to secure quarantine hotels in the north of England for passengers returning home to North Wales via Manchester during the covid-19 outbreak.

Jo Churchill: There are no current plans to secure quarantine hotels in the north of England.

Dental Services: Children

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the average waiting time for child orthodontic treatment; and what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for that treatment.

Jo Churchill: No such assessment has been made. Data on National Health Service orthodontic waiting times is not available at a national level due to regional variation in the collection of data.Contractual arrangements for the first six months of the 2021/22 financial year have been communicated to practices by NHS England and NHS Improvement. NHS orthodontists have been asked to maximise safe throughput to meet as many prioritised needs as possible. A revised unit of orthodontic activity threshold has been set at 80% for full payment of NHS contractual value, based on data that indicates practices have capacity to safely achieve more activity than in the final quarter of 2020/21. It is expected that this increased threshold will improve patient throughput and reduce waiting times for treatment.

Travel: Quarantine

Rachel Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which companies have been awarded contracts for the hotel covid-19 quarantine system.

Jo Churchill: The Managed Quarantine Service consists of contracts with Corporate Travel Management, G4S, Mitie and Corps Security.

Cancer: Medical Treatments

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the length of time it will take to clear the cancer treatment backlog.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak and associated lockdown restrictions on cancer survival rates.

Jo Churchill: Local systems, drawing on advice and analysis from their Cancer Alliance, will ensure that there is sufficient diagnostic and treatment capacity in place to meet the needs of cancer to return the number of people waiting for longer than 62 days to the level of February 2020, or to the national average in February 2020 where this is lower, and meet the increased level of referrals and treatment required to address the shortfall in number of first treatments by March 2022.No assessment has yet been made of the effect of COVID-19 on cancer survival rates because data to assess the full extent of its impact on patient outcomes is not yet available. The NHS Cancer Programme is currently establishing a task and finish group to review alterations and/or disruptions to care pathways. Once this group has been established a timeline will be agreed and they will consider the most appropriate data sources with which to make this assessment.

Coronavirus: Quarantine

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what impact assessment he has undertaken on the potential economic effect of the introduction of hotel based covid-19 quarantine measures on (a) airlines, (b) airports, (c) tourism and (d) hospitality businesses.

Jo Churchill: While the Government has not undertaken a formal impact assessment, we continue to consult widely with the travel and hospitality sector, including through the Global Travel Taskforce.

Cancer: Screening

Mr Andrew Mitchell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps he has taken to help reduce waiting times for cancer screening and testing in Sutton Coldfield.

Jo Churchill: In Sutton Coldfield the bowel screening programme has increased colonoscopy capacity and the provider is currently sending invitations at 150% of weekly rates compared with before the pandemic. The cervical screening programme has also increased its invitation rate, with normal service expected to be resumed by May 2021. For breast screening a new mobile screening unit will be available within the next month, allowing an additional 720 women to be screened per month.

Department of Health and Social Care: Written Questions

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Written Parliamentary Questions to his Department have received a response drafted by external contractors since March 2020.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the cost to his Department of responses to Written Parliamentary Questions drafted by external contractors since March 2020.

Jo Churchill: As part of their work in helping respond to the pandemic, external contractors may provide support in answering Written Questions if required. However, Senior Civil Servants review each reply to ensure it is accurate and provide final sign-off.Information on how many responses to Written Questions have included contributions by external contractors and an estimate of costs to the Department is not available and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Health Hazards: 5G

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of potential health effects of 5G mobile networking technology.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) advises that the guidelines of the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) should be adopted and there is no convincing evidence that radio wave exposures below the ICNIRP guideline levels cause adverse health effects. The ICNIRP guidelines cover exposures arising from new 5G technologies, as well as from older technologies. It is possible that there may be a small increase in overall exposure to radio waves when 5G is added to an existing network or in a new area. However, the overall exposure is expected to remain low relative to guidelines and, as such, there should be no consequences for public health.

NHS Test and Trace: Finance

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the total budget is for NHS Test and Trace.

Jo Churchill: The NHS Test and Trace budget for 2020/21 is £22 billion and £15 billion in 2021/22, a total budget over two years of £37 billion.

Coronavirus: Screening

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on groups who may not have a permanent or stable home address of the use of agencies usually used for credit checks in the verification of individuals' addresses when giving access to covid-19 antibody testing.

Jo Churchill: The identity verification check in place could potentially cause accessibility issues for those with no fixed abode. Therefore, the verification check was deactivated in November 2020 for both antigen testing and antibody testing to ensure there were no barriers to testing. It has not been used in either service since.

Healthy Start Scheme

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how much the Government has spent on external consultants in connection with the development of a digital card scheme to replace paper Healthy Start Vouchers.

Jo Churchill: The Department spent £1,909,149 (excluding VAT) on external consultants in developing a digital card scheme to replace paper Healthy Start Vouchers.

NHS Test and Trace: Databases

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether financial or other resources have been allocated to assessing potential futures uses of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Jo Churchill: Spending plans for the £15 billion budget in 2021-22 are currently undergoing a detailed financial planning exercise and will be finalised in due course.

Healthy Start Scheme

Alex Norris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of how much the Government has paid to consultants at firms in connection with the development of a digital card scheme to replace paper Healthy Start Vouchers.

Jo Churchill: The Department spent £1,909,149 (excluding VAT) on external consultants in developing a digital card scheme to replace paper Healthy Start Vouchers.

NHS Test and Trace: Expenditure

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much has been spent on NHS Test and Trace to date.

Jo Churchill: Actual audited expenditure will be published as part of the Department’s Annual Report and Accounts.

Food: Advertising

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on (a) small and medium sized businesses and (b) franchisees of the online advertising proposals for products that are high in fat, salt and sugar.

Jo Churchill: The consultation on the proposal to introduce a total restriction of online advertising for products high in fat, salt and sugar asked a question on the impact of the proposals on small businesses and we have engaged with industry to understand these in more detail to factor in the final policy decision. We will publish the response to the consultation shortly.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to change the requirement that a disabled applicant must manually sign form FP92A.

Jo Churchill: We have no plans to do so. When a disabled applicant is unable to complete or sign form FP92A, the correct procedure is for a general practitioner or other healthcare professional to complete the application on the patient’s behalf. This instruction is noted on form FP92A in the patient declaration section.

Brain: Tumours

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans the Government has to increase public awareness of the symptoms of brain tumours in children.

Jo Churchill: We have no current plans to do so. However, we welcome the public facing campaign of the charity HeadSmart, which has increased awareness of symptoms that could indicate brain cancer in children and young people. As well as making the National Health Service in England aware of the benefits of HeadSmart, we have highlighted the values of it with Directors of Public Health, health visitors and school nurses, to encourage their use by professionals in signposting to specialist advice.

Hospitality Industry: Smoking

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in light of new covid-19 restrictions, what plans the Government has to implement a smoking ban in outdoor areas attached to pubs, bars, restaurants and cafes.

Jo Churchill: The Government has no plans to do so. Businesses themselves may make their own policies regarding such matters. In light of the impacts of COVID-19, the Business and Planning Act 2020 introduced temporary measures to make the process for obtaining a pavement licence for al fresco dining quicker and cheaper. Any licences granted under these temporary provisions will be subject to a smoke free seating condition, whereby the premise will need to make reasonable provision for seating outdoors, where smoking is not permitted. This will apply to businesses who obtain a pavement licence under the temporary provisions in the Business and Planning Act.

Healthy Start Scheme

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the development and roll-out of a new card scheme to replace the existing Healthy Start Voucher Scheme.

Jo Churchill: The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues. The digitisation of the Healthy Start Scheme is part of the Government’s wider agenda for digital by default.

Cerebral Palsy: Children

Greg Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the all-party Parliamentary group on cerebral palsy’s report, Early identification, intervention and pathways of care of infants and young children with cerebral palsy: The case for reform and investment, published in March 2021, what plans he has to assign each family an independent partner within their child development team or from a specialist voluntary provider who is a qualified professional with knowledge of cerebral palsy and who is able to provide monitoring, in-reach, information, and support to the family and help them to refer to and co-ordinate services.

Jo Churchill: Local delivery models of Child Development Teams vary and local authorities are encouraged to use the national commissioning guidance. The skill mix in any given area will vary depending on local needs, as this is because it should be led by health needs of a population and geographical areas. We will continue to work with the Local Government Association, professional bodies, and locally through Public Health England centres, to share evidence and guidance that allows councils to make the best decisions to meet local need.

Life Expectancy

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of average life expectancy for a person living in (a) Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, (b) South Yorkshire and (c) the UK.

Jo Churchill: While life expectancy at birth in 2017-19 was the highest ever observed in the United Kingdom, improvements in life expectancy have slowed since 2011. Generally, trends in South Yorkshire and Barnsley life expectancy trends have followed similar patterns to the UK.In Barnsley, the average male life expectancy has slightly decreased from 78.2 years in 2014-16 to 77.8 years in 2017-19. The average female life expectancy has also slightly decreased from 81.9 years in 2014-16 to 81.8 years in 2017-19. In South Yorkshire, the average male life expectancy has increased slightly from 78.4 years in 2014-16 to 78.5 years in 2017-19 and the average female life expectancy has remained at 82 years between the same period. In the UK, the average male life expectancy increased from 79.2 years to 79.4 years between 2014-16 and 2017-2019 and the average female life expectancy also increased from 82.9 years to 83.1 years between the same period.

Obesity: Coronavirus

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of (a) access to weight management services and (b) home working during periods of national restrictions as a result of the covid-19 outbreak on the prevalence of obesity.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) has conducted qualitative research on the changes to weight management services during the first lockdown period. The research found that the COVID-19 pandemic had reduced access to weight management services with face-to-face services suspended. The impact of remote provision on client engagement and uptake appeared to be variable in England. PHE currently has no data available on the impact of the pandemic on population obesity prevalence as data collection on national surveys has largely been suspended due to the pandemic.

Health: Disadvantaged

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to tackle health inequalities experienced by people living in (a) Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council and (b) South Yorkshire.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) work alongside the Director of Public Health in Barnsley as well as across the local authority and partners, to help provide evidence, specialist expertise and jointly developed programmes targeted at tackling health inequalities. PHE also carry out this work across South Yorkshire.PHE is jointly leading on a programme of work to tackle health inequalities with the Yorkshire and Humber Association of Directors of Public Health, for example by providing additional specialist senior level capacity to lead on the inclusive economies’ agenda specifically in Barnsley and South Yorkshire.

Breast Cancer: Clinical Trials

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 18 June 2020 to Question 56022, what plans his Department has to recover and restart recruitment to breast cancer clinical trials.

Jo Churchill: The Department’s National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is supporting the National Health Service to deliver clinical research through the Clinical Research Network (CRN).The NIHR’s CRN reports that of the 92 breast cancer clinical trials that it was supporting on 21 May 2020, 36 or 39% were paused as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 15 April 2021, 30 or 83% of these paused breast cancer trials have restarted and 30 new breast cancer trials have entered the portfolio since 21 May 2020.To enable clinical research studies that have been paused to restart and recruit successfully, including breast cancer trials, plans are being developed to manage the delivery of non-COVID-19 studies to ensure successful recovery of the portfolio. Details of these plans will be published shortly.

Protective Clothing: Procurement

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 March 2021 to Question 165584, if he will publish by (a) constituency and (b) volume where that personal protective equipment was manufactured.

Jo Churchill: We do not hold collated and validated data on the location within the United Kingdom where personal protective equipment (PPE) was manufactured. We have published the overall volume of PPE sourced from UK manufacturing for the three months from 1 December 2020 which is available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/personal-protective-equipment-ppe-made-in-the-uk-as-at-1-december-2020

Early Years Healthy Development Review

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Government’s publication, The best start for life: a vision for the 1,001 critical days, published on 25 March 2021, when the Cabinet Minister is planned to be appointed to oversee implementation of the agreed actions from the Early Years Healthy Development Review Report.

Jo Churchill: The Prime Minister recognises the importance of the start for life period being considered and advocated for at the heart of Government. Parents and carers need to know that someone is advocating on their behalf and who that person is. The Prime Minister will nominate a Cabinet Minister who will ensure that ‘Start for Life’. A decision on who fulfils this role will be made in due course.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions he has had with local authorities in England on potential changes to bandings applied to children with Education, Health and Care Plans.

Vicky Ford: We do not prescribe in detail how local authorities should allocate their high needs funding, including how top-up funding should be used for children with education, health and care (EHC) plans. However, local authorities and schools have statutory duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 to support children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).Paragraph 94 of the operational guide on high needs funding arrangements (available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/high-needs-funding-arrangements-2021-to-2022) says that: “Many local authorities have systems which indicate the range of top-up funding that might be provided for children and young people with a particular complexity of need (sometimes referred to as ‘banded’ funding systems). These can be helpful in providing clear and transparent funding arrangements for many types of need that may be met in a range of different institutions. Where a local authority makes a large number of placements at an institution or range of institutions, a system for the local authority and institutions to agree levels of top-up funding in advance can be a very efficient way of allocating this funding. However, the final allocation of funding must be sufficient to secure the agreed provision specified in any EHC plan.”However, the department does not play a part in local authorities’ decisions on whether to follow such banded funding systems or not.The government is committed to delivering real improvements to the SEND system, which will be taken forward through the SEND review, which has sought views from family representative groups and partners across education, health and care. We share a common ambition to reform the SEND system so that children and young people can have the support they need at the earliest possible point, whilst streamlining the EHC planning process, so that we can both improve these children’s outcomes and make the system more sustainable. We will consult publicly on the review’s proposals, so that everyone with an interest can have their say on the system of the future.

T-levels: Staffordshire

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that all students taking T-Levels are able to access a high-quality industry placement in (a) Stoke-on-Trent and (b) Staffordshire.

Gillian Keegan: We have invested £165 million to help providers prepare for and deliver high-quality industry placements, building their capacity and relationships with employers. We are working closely with providers and have put in place dedicated support to help them secure placement opportunities for all T Level students. We have published industry placement delivery guidance for both providers and employers to support the provision of high-quality placements.We are engaging directly with employers through the National Apprenticeship Service and offering support to help them deliver high-quality placements.

Children: Social Services

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to publish the national set of standards for independent and semi-independent placements for children in social care.

Vicky Ford: The government will be introducing national standards for independent and semi-independent settings for children in care and care leavers aged 16 and 17, to raise the bar for this provision. This was set in our response to the consultation on reforms to the use of unregulated provision: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/unregulated-provision-for-children-in-care-and-care-leavers.The national standards will work towards ensuring that local authorities can be confident when making placements in this provision. They will also strengthen our ability to take action against poor providers. Most importantly, they will ensure that our children and young people are safe and have the best possible chances of success in life.We know that this new regime will represent a major change for local authorities and providers. This is why we are committed to designing and implementing this regime in collaboration with the sector and with care-experienced children and young people. We are working closely with a range of partners across the sector to prepare a consultation on the content of the national standards and accompanying Ofsted regime.We will publish this consultation shortly, which will include a draft version of the national standards.

Schools: Government Assistance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will support schools to provide education for pupils in years 11 and 13 to continue with their education until the end of the summer term 2021.

Nick Gibb: Many schools usually incorporate a period of independent study leave in the summer term for Year 11 and 13 pupils as exams approach. However, this year the needs of the cohort will be different, and a period of independent study leave may not be applicable.The 2021 exams approach requires schools to submit grades by 18 June 2021. This process requires considerable staff resource, and we recognise that in practice, for many pupils, work completed after the May half term will not contribute towards their grades.The Department has therefore set out guidance about valuable activities pupils should be engaged in. Schools should make appropriate judgements on the activities for their own pupils. This might not mean full-time provision and could include visits to education establishments, independent study or remote provision combined with attendance in person. The guidance about activities that schools can consider is found in Annex B, here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/schools-coronavirus-covid-19-operational-guidance#annex-b.We are not changing the legislation that governs compulsory school age. As usual, pupils cease to be of compulsory school age on the last Friday of June in the year in which they turn 16. That means that those pupils (most of whom will be in Year 11) are not required to attend school after this date.This year, many schools will already have plans in place for the last half of the summer term to support their current pupils. We strongly encourage all schools to maximise opportunities that meet the progression needs of their students during this period.

Remote Education: Computers

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department took to ensure that (a) laptops and (b) tablets provided to children for home learning during the covid-19 outbreak were not infected with malware from international servers.

Nick Gibb: The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including making 1.3 million laptops and tablets available for disadvantaged children and young people.To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges. We have also provided support for over 100,000 families to get online through uplifts in mobile data and 4G wireless routers.Schools are responsible for ensuring their IT infrastructure is secure. This includes checking the security of any laptops and tablets accessing the school’s network.Devices available through the Get Help with Technology programme include Microsoft Windows devices, Chromebooks and Apple iPads. Microsoft Windows devices come with Windows Defender Antivirus. Chromebooks come with Chrome OS which manages encryption, anti-malware, and anti-virus. Apple iPads are built on the Apple iOS which is designed to be secure in a way which makes iOS targeted Malware very rare and specific protection against this unnecessary.

Schools: Stoke-on-Trent

Jonathan Gullis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to promote good discipline and behaviour in schools in Stoke-on-Trent.

Nick Gibb: Good behaviour and discipline in schools is crucial if children are to learn and reach their full potential. The Government is pursuing an ambitious programme of work to improve behaviour in schools.Earlier this month, we commenced the Behaviour Hubs programme, investing £10 million to help schools develop and sustain a culture where good behaviour is the norm.We are also improving the training and professional development that we give to new teachers. As part of the Early Career Framework reforms, being rolled out nationally from September, all newly qualified teachers will have access to a funded, 2-year support package, including access to a trained mentor. The Early Career Framework has been designed to support early career teacher development in five core areas, including behaviour management.The Department will be consulting on how we can help head teachers remove mobile phones from the classroom, and other revisions to the Department’s behaviour and discipline and expulsions guidance, later in the year.

Children: Numeracy

Imran Ahmad Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to increase numeracy rates for children from low-income households.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 14 April 2021 to Question 176112.In addition to this, the Department has also launched the National Tutoring Programme (NTP) which provides additional, targeted support for those children and young people who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The NTP is an ambitious scheme that aims to increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged children and young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and tackling the attainment gap between them and their peers.Children can receive tuition in one of six main subject areas, including mathematics. Further information on the NTP can be found here: https://nationaltutoring.org.uk/.

Special Educational Needs

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children in England are off-rolled; how many of those children (a) have an EHIC plan and (b) are diagnosed SEND; and what the average length of time is that they have been off-rolled.

Nick Gibb: The information requested is not held by the Department and cannot be derived from current data sources.The Government is clear that off-rolling is unacceptable in any form. We will continue to work with Ofsted to define and tackle it. Ofsted already considers records of children taken off roll and the revised framework in September 2019 strengthened this focus. Where inspectors find off-rolling, this will always be addressed in the inspection report, and where appropriate, could lead to a school’s leadership being judged inadequate.A pupil’s name can lawfully be deleted from the admission register on the grounds prescribed in regulation 8 of the Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 as amended. All schools must notify the local authority when a pupil’s name is to be deleted from the admission register under any of the grounds prescribed in regulation 8, as soon as the ground for removal is met and no later than the time at which the pupil’s name is removed from the register.

Teachers: Labour Turnover

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps he has taken to help retain newly qualified teachers.

Nick Gibb: It is a top priority of the Government to ensure that we continue to attract, retain, and support the high-quality teachers we need to inspire the next generation. We continue to progress the delivery of the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy that the Government published in January 2019. Our strategy includes commitments to ensuring all teachers receive world-class training and development and are supported to stay and succeed in the profession. Central to these reforms is the Early Career Framework (ECF) which is the biggest teaching reform in a generation. It will provide newly qualified teachers with a funded, two-year support package, and will be fully rolled out in autumn 2021. Early roll-out began in autumn 2020 and is taking place in selected areas: the North East, Greater Manchester, Bradford, and Doncaster. The content of the ECF builds on and complements Initial Teacher Training and underpins what all early career teachers should be entitled to learn about and learn how to do, based on expert guidance and the best available research evidence. The ECF has been designed to support early career teacher development in five core areas, including behaviour management, to ensure that new teachers receive high-quality support and development during the first two years of their careers. The offer for early career teachers includes:5% off timetable in their second year of teaching to undertake induction activities, including training and mentoringFreely available high quality development materials based on the Early Career FrameworkA dedicated mentor and training for these mentorsFunding for mentors to spend with early career teachers in the second year of induction This is designed to ensure teachers feel more confident and in control at the start of their new career, and have the knowledge, skills and support they need for a strong start in the profession. We are also taking a range of actions to address teacher workload and wellbeing, including improving access to resources, building wellbeing into teacher training and policy making, and the creation of the first ever Education Staff Wellbeing Charter which will be published at the earliest opportunity this year. We continue to assess the impact of policy changes and requests to schools on workload, working to reduce that impact wherever possible, for example, by reviewing data collections, services and requests.

Schools: ICT

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many (a) dongles, (b) MiFi devices, (c) SIM cards and (d) other connectivity devices have been supplied to schools under (i) the Get help with technology programme and (ii) predecessor programmes aimed at supporting schools through the outbreak of covid-19 in each local education authority as at (A) 1 September 2020, (B) 20 December 2020 and (C) 1 April 2021.

Nick Gibb: As part of the Government’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, we are investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, academy trusts, local authorities and further education colleges. The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home. We are building on the foundations of the Department’s significant investment in technology and exploring future options, which we will set out in due course.

Education: Ethnic Groups

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how his Department plans to (a) narrow the attainment gap and (b) tackle racial inequalities in education through the covid-19 education recovery package and catch-up programme.

Nick Gibb: The Government is taking steps to close the educational attainment gap and improve the education of disadvantaged children and young people of all ethnic backgrounds. The Department recognises that the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has been felt most heavily by disadvantaged children and young people, and so it is important that we target support towards these children.On 24 February, the Department announced a £700 million Education Recovery package, building on the £1 billion provided in 2020. As well as a range of measures to support all pupils to recover lost education, the package includes significant funding aimed at addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils. This includes a one off £302 million Recovery Premium for the next academic year that will be allocated to schools based on disadvantage funding eligibility. Schools with more disadvantaged pupils will therefore receive larger allocations. Within this package is a £22 million accelerator fund to scale up evidence based approaches that support children and young people in disadvantaged areas.In June 2020, as part of the £1 billion COVID-19 catch up package, the Department announced £350 million to fund the National Tutoring Programme for disadvantaged students in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 academic year. The programme will provide additional, targeted support for those children and young people who have been hardest hit from disruption to their education as a result of school closures. Teachers and school leaders should exercise professional judgement when identifying which pupils would benefit most from this additional support.There is extensive evidence that tutoring is one of the most effective ways to accelerate pupil progress, and the Department wants to extend this opportunity to disadvantaged and vulnerable learners. We are funding small group tuition for 16 to 19 year olds and early language skills in Reception classes. The Department is also providing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services. To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers.£200 million will be made available to secondary schools to deliver face to face summer schools. Funding is allocated on the basis of schools’ existing year 7 pupils, but there is flexibility for schools to draw in other pupils should they identify a need. Schools will identify the pupils most in need of support and will be able to target provision based on pupils’ needs.The ongoing provision of pupil premium funding, which is worth £2.5 billion this financial year, aims to close the attainment gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers. It allows school leaders to tailor the support they provide, based on the needs of their disadvantaged pupils, with the aim of accelerating their progress and improving their educational attainment.

Assessments: Ethnic Groups

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to (a) encourage greater standardisation in teacher assessments and (b) discourage racial bias in forthcoming transition from school exams to teacher assessments.

Nick Gibb: The Department is confident that the system of teacher assessed grades, underpinned by clear guidance published by the Joint Council for Qualifications, will ensure the grades students receive are as fair and consistent as possible. In addition to this guidance, exam boards have provided grade descriptors and exemplar materials to support teachers. The grade descriptors and materials exemplify the established performance standard that is maintained each year by awarding organisations. To ensure that there is a common basis to all teacher assessed grades, teachers are being asked to apply the performance standards described in the grade descriptors to the evidence of students’ work this year.Students should have confidence in their grades this year and it is vital that teachers are supported to avoid any unconscious bias. Awarding organisations will provide assessment materials, guidance, and training to support centres to make fair, consistent, and evidence-based decisions which are without bias. Ofqual have also published information for centres about making objective judgements this year, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-for-centres-about-making-objective-judgements.Centres will be encouraged to allow students to see the evidence used to determine their grade in advance of that grade being submitted. This transparency should enable any errors or circumstances relating to particular pieces of evidence to be taken into account in advance of the grade submission. Students’ grades will also go through internal and external quality assurance processes to ensure errors are identified and that judgements are as consistent as possible. Internal standardisation will help mitigate the risk of unconscious bias in judgements of students’ grades. Centres will set out how they will ensure objectivity in their centre policies, which will be reviewed by exam boards.There will also be an appeals system as a safety net to resolve any errors not identified during the earlier parts of the process. The Department has made clear that every student will have the right to appeal their grade.

Schools: Protective Clothing

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of making more personal protective equipment available to teachers and other staff working in schools during the covid-19 outbreak; and what special provision is being made for staff working in SEN schools with vulnerable children.

Nick Gibb: The Department has worked closely with Public Health England (PHE) to develop guidance based on the ‘system of controls’ that are required in schools to effectively reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) where recommended is one element of the system of controls that schools are putting in place to reduce risks.As the guidance outlines, most staff working in schools will not require PPE beyond what they would normally need for their work, even if they are not always able to maintain a distance of two metres from others.If a child, young person or student already has routine intimate care needs that involve the use of PPE, the same PPE should continue to be used.Additional PPE for COVID-19 is only required in a very limited number of scenarios:if an individual child, young person or student becomes ill with COVID-19 symptoms and only then if a distance of two metres cannot be maintainedwhen performing aerosol generating procedures.Depending on local arrangements, schools may be able to access PPE for their COVID-19 needs via their local authority or local resilience forum. The PPE portal can also be used by all special school settings to access COVID-19 PPE.Further guidance on the use of PPE, and how to source it, can be found in our guidance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care/safe-working-in-education-childcare-and-childrens-social-care-settings-including-the-use-of-personal-protective-equipment-ppe.

Food: Further Education and Schools

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to issue guidance to schools and colleges on offering plant-based food and drink options to pupils.

Vicky Ford: The government’s School Food Standards regulates the food and drink provided at both lunchtime and at other times of the school day. Beyond this, we believe that head teachers, school governors and caterers are best placed to make decisions about their school food policies, taking into account local circumstances and the needs of their pupils. In doing so, we expect schools to make reasonable adjustments for pupils with particular requirements, for example to reflect dietary and cultural needs.The School Food Standards already contain sufficient flexibility to enable schools to provide a variety of plant-based food and drink options to pupils if there is a demand for them. School food policies work best when schools discuss them with parents and pupils, so that parents have the opportunity to raise pupils’ particular dietary needs.

Teachers: Registration

Rob Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing a registration system similar to the General Medical Council's register of doctors for teachers in (a) state and (b) independent schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department has not and is not considering a return to a registration-based system for teachers in state maintained or independent schools. Whilst the Teaching Regulation Agency (TRA) does not maintain a register of teachers, it does maintain a list of qualified teachers and a list of those individuals prohibited from teaching work. Prospective employers in the state maintained and independent sector are able to verify instantly, via the TRA’s Teacher Services system, whether a teacher is qualified and/or is prohibited from teaching work as part of any recruitment process. Members of the public may check whether an individual is on the prohibited list via the TRA.

Schools: Standards

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the minimum number of teaching hours required to be taught at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools is per week.

Nick Gibb: The Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999 require all maintained schools to be open to educate their pupils for at least 380 sessions (190 days) in each school year.Academies are not bound by the School Day and School Year regulations and can make changes to their term and holiday dates.Schools should organise the school day and school week in the best interests of their pupil cohort, to provide them with a full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude and ability.

Education: Standards

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment he has made of the level of achievement at the end of compulsory education in (a) Portsmouth South constituency and (b) the rest of England.

Nick Gibb: The Department has published a wide range of data on the attainment of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 at both national and local level on 26 November 2020. More information can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/key-stage-4-performance-2020. The latest published data shows that in the Portsmouth South constituency, the average attainment 8 score was 47.5 compared with an average attainment 8 score of 50.2 across all state funded schools in England.

Members: Correspondence

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Manchester Gorton on Ali Alizadeh, reference AK42579.

Nick Gibb: I can confirm that a response has been sent, ref AK42579, to the hon. Member for Manchester Gorton.

Children: Literacy

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve literacy levels among primary school children.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards, including for those children from disadvantaged backgrounds. English is fundamental to education and provides the knowledge pupils need to communicate with others, both in school and in the wider world, providing pupils the opportunity to develop their spoken language, reading and writing.The National Curriculum has been designed to make sure that all children leave primary school fully literate and ready to progress at secondary school. There is a renewed focus on the requirement for pupils to be taught to read through systematic synthetic phonics and applying phonic knowledge to word reading. By ensuring high quality phonics teaching, the Government wants to improve literacy levels to give all children a solid base upon which to build as they progress through school and help children to develop the habit of reading widely and often, for both pleasure and information.The curriculum places a greater focus on reading and requires pupils to study a range of books, poems and plays to encourage the development of a lifelong love of literature. Within the framework of the National Curriculum, schools make their own choices on the specific programmes or resources they use. The curriculum for English increases the level of challenge from an early age with greater emphasis on grammar and vocabulary development, and in 2013 the Department introduced a new test of pupils’ knowledge in this area to be taken by Year 6 pupils. Ofsted’s inspection framework now puts much more focus on how well schools are teaching their pupils to read, with inspectors listening to children reading aloud, watching phonics classes, and checking how schools help weaker readers to improve. The Ofsted inspection framework is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/education-inspection-framework.England achieved its highest ever score in reading in 2016, moving from joint 10th to joint 8th in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study rankings. This improvement is largely attributable to increases in the average performance of lower performing pupils. This follows a greater focus on reading in the primary curriculum, and a particular focus on phonics.In 2018, the Department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on supporting children making the slowest progress in reading, many of whom come from disadvantaged backgrounds. The 34 English Hubs in the programme are primary schools which are outstanding at teaching early reading. The Department has since invested a further £17 million in this school to school improvement programme, which focusses on systematic synthetic phonics, early language, and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of schools across England. In the 2020/21 academic year the programme is providing intensive support to over 875 partner schools.The proportion of Year 1 pupils meeting the expected standard in the phonics screening check has gone from 58% in 2012, when the check was introduced, to 82% in 2019. For disadvantaged pupils, this has gone from 45% to 71%.

Education: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on the funding allocation for the academic year 2021-22 of a reduction in numbers in academic year 2020-21; and if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of using data from a longer timeframe to determine funding allocations.

Nick Gibb: Funding for both schools and providers of 16-19 education is based on student numbers from the previous academic year. Therefore, where an institution has significantly higher or lower numbers of young people enrolled than in the previous year, this will impact on their funding allocation in the following year. This system of lagged funding is well established and understood because it allows institutions to receive clear allocations each year based on data about students and the courses they study and to make plans with confidence. For providers of 16-19 education, the Department considers business cases from individual institutions where their allocation has been significantly affected by exceptional circumstances. Local authorities also have flexibility, within the funding they are allocated in the dedicated schools grant, to set aside funding to create a small fund to support good or outstanding schools with falling pupil numbers, where local planning data shows that the surplus places will be needed within the next three financial years.

Education: Caribbean

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to improve educational outcomes for (a) pupils and (b) students of Caribbean heritage; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Since 2010, this Government has been committed to raising educational standards for all pupils to ensure that all young people leave school with the knowledge, skills and qualifications they need to succeed in life. The proportion of schools now rated by Ofsted as Good or Outstanding has risen from 68% in 2010 to 86% in 2020. The Department does not design education policy that exclusively targets certain groups of pupils based on ethnicity, but we are focused on tackling the attainment gap that exists between disadvantaged children and their more affluent peers.We know that the COVID-19 outbreak poses great challenges to the education system. In June 2020, the Department announced a £1 billion catch-up package, which includes £350 million for a National Tutoring Programme to increase access to high-quality tuition for the most disadvantaged children and young people, helping to accelerate their academic progress and directly tackling the attainment gap.More recently, in February 2021, we committed a further £700 million of funding for the 2021/22 academic year. This package includes a new one off £302 million Recovery Premium for state-funded primary and secondary schools, building on the Pupil Premium, to further support pupils who need it most.As part of the Government’s commitment to develop a longer-term education recovery plan, Sir Kevan Collins has been appointed as Education Recovery Commissioner and is working with teachers, school and college leaders, educational charities, and families to review how evidence-based interventions can be used to address the impact of education lost due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Education: Parents

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to (a) promote and (b) support parental involvement in children’s education and academic attainment.

Nick Gibb: Parental involvement in their child’s education has always been important, and this has been further underlined during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Department realises this is a challenging time for parents, carers and children, and remote education has brought new demands for them and changed how they engage with schools. Parents played a crucial role in their child’s education whilst schools were closed for most pupils.School attendance is now mandatory for all pupils and the usual rules on school attendance have applied again since 8 March 2021. This includes parents’ duty to secure their child’s regular attendance at school. It is vital that pupils attend school to minimise the longer-term impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on their education, wellbeing and wider development, and that is why education has been prioritised as we begin to relax restrictions.Evidence tells us that the early years are crucial for a child’s development, and what happens at home plays a vital role. This is why the Department launched Hungry Little Minds, a campaign to encourage parents to engage in activities that support their child’s early education. The campaign aims to communicate that there are simple, everyday things parents can do to help their children’s language and literacy. The campaign is part of our wider work to support parents and families. We provided £5.3 million of grant funding in the 2020-21 financial year to voluntary and community sector organisations to support disadvantaged and vulnerable children in the early years, including support with the home education environment.

Education and Training: Ethnic Groups

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to increase racial diversity in teaching and training workforces, particularly in schools and universities that have large proportions of students from Black and Asian backgrounds.

Nick Gibb: The teaching workforce is more racially diverse than ever before, with recruitment into Initial Teacher Training (ITT) becoming more representative of the wider population. The Department recognises, however, that we must go further to attract and retain the diverse range of talented teachers we need in our classrooms.To support recruitment, the Department is building and rolling out a new application service for teacher training. The Apply for teacher training service has been designed and extensively tested with a diverse range of potential applicants to ensure it helps remove barriers to teachers applying for ITT courses. Apply for teacher training is currently in public beta, running alongside the existing application service for teacher training. As the Department rolls out the service, we will continue to develop and test interventions to support people from diverse backgrounds in becoming teachers.Furthermore, the Department’s ‘Teaching – Every Lesson Shapes A Life’ recruitment campaign is targeted at audiences of students, recent graduates, and potential career changers inclusive of all ethnicities, and we take every effort to ensure that our advertising is fully reflective of this across the full range of marketing materials we use.Alongside a focus on recruitment, it is important the Department continues its work to retain more teachers from diverse backgrounds. This will be supported by our work to ensure that all new entrants to teacher training have the best possible start to the early stage of their career. From September 2020 onwards, new trainee teachers will undergo training based on the ITT Core Content Framework which sets out a core minimum entitlement for all trainees, describing the fundamental knowledge and skills that all new entrants to the profession need to effectively teach and support all children.Following on from their training, from this September, all new teachers will be entitled to two years of funded high quality professional development including the support of a dedicated mentor, through the Early Career Framework reforms. Schools will receive additional funding so new teachers can spend time away from the classroom for this extra training and mentoring. Together, these reforms will ensure that all new teachers will develop the skills, expertise, and confidence they need to thrive in the classroom.

German Language: Secondary Education

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the extent of the decline in the teaching of German in secondary schools.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the need to equip young people with language skills in preparation for international trade and commerce.

Nick Gibb: In 2010, 40% of pupils in English state-funded schools at the end of Key Stage 4 entered a GCSE in a modern foreign language, and this has increased to 46% in 2020. Over the same period, the proportion of pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 entering GCSE German reduced from 10% to 7%. German, however, remains the third most popular language in secondary schools, with nearly 41,000 pupils entering a GCSE in this subject in 2020.Studying a foreign language can be very rewarding, provide an insight into other cultures and open the door to travel and enhance future employment opportunities. We know that languages are increasingly important to equip young people in business and trade to make sure we can compete in the global market. A government-commissioned study by Foreman-Peck and Wang published in 2014 states that poor language skills in businesses was holding back UK trade performance. The report can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-costs-to-the-uk-of-language-deficiencies-as-a-barrier-to-uk-engagement-in-exporting.To improve take-up in German and other languages at GCSE, we have funded the £4.8 million MFL Pedagogy Pilot which commenced in in December 2018. The pilot is managed by the National Centre for Excellence in Language Pedagogy (NCELP) and run through 9 school-led hubs. The pilot is developing fully resourced schemes of work for schools in key stage 3 in French, German and Spanish, as well as disseminating best practice and training to support language teachers. The aim is to increase both pupil take-up and teaching quality in French, German and Spanish.We have recently extended the programme to December 2022 and, during its last year, the NCELP will extend its reach to deliver training to at least 1,350 modern foreign language teachers and will develop fully resourced schemes of work for Key Stage 4. Information on the NCELP can be found at: https://ncelp.org.We also commissioned a review of modern foreign language GCSEs in French, German and Spanish to make them more accessible and motivating for students. Our ambition is to produce a subject content that aligns more closely with the Teaching Schools Council’s 2016 MFL pedagogy review and, in doing so, ensure that subject content reflects research in language curriculum and teaching and makes language GCSEs more accessible and motivating for students. Consultation on this opened on 10 March and closes on 19 May. Details can be found at: www.gov.uk/government/consultations/gcse-modern-foreign-languages-mfl-subject-content-review.

ICT: Ethnic Groups

Ms Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to improve access IT equipment for Black and Asian children living in low-income households.

Nick Gibb: The Government is providing over £400 million to support remote education and online social care services, including making 1.3 million laptops and tablets available for disadvantaged children and young people.To date, over 1.29 million laptops and tablets have been delivered to schools, trusts, local authorities and further education providers. The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help over 30,000 disadvantaged children get online, as well as delivering over 75,000 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.Laptops and tablets are owned by schools, trusts, local authorities or further education providers, who can lend these to children and young people who need them. Allocations of devices to schools and colleges are based on the number of pupils or students they have who are eligible for free school meals or free meals. This approach ensures that support provided by the Government reaches those families that need it most.

Schools: Flags

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans the Government has to make the flying of the Union Flag compulsory at all schools.

Nick Gibb: Schools play an important role in preparing pupils for life in modern Britain. This involves supporting pupils to understand the society in which they grow up and developing their sense of British identity.Schools are free to display the national flag of the United Kingdom and it is a matter for individual schools to decide. The Department for Education does not provide specific guidance or restrictions on this.Whilst the Government has a policy on flying the Union Flag above government buildings, this does not extend to schools.

Teachers: Training

Daisy Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional training his Department has offered to teachers on (a) assessing and (b) moderating (i) GCSE and (ii) A-Level exam papers in the 2020-21 academic year.

Nick Gibb: The Joint Council for Qualifications has published clear guidance for centres to support them to determine teacher assessed grades. The guidance provides detailed information to schools and colleges on the grading process and the different factors that need to be accounted for. Teachers have the flexibility to use a range of evidence to determine students’ grades, including the use of optional questions provided by exam boards.The sets of questions with mark schemes were provided to centres on 31 March 2021. Exemplar responses were provided to centres on 12 April, to assist teachers with marking these questions and making fair, objective, and consistent judgements of the standard of a student’s performance. The sets of questions were made openly available on 19 April.In addition to the guidance and the assessment materials, exam boards have provided grade descriptors and exemplification materials to support teachers in making an evidence-based judgement of the grade at which each student is performing. This will ensure that there is a common basis to all teacher assessed grades.To ensure qualifications are fair, students will be assessed only on what they have been taught. Centres can draw on a range of evidence to make their assessment. This range and flexibility in the assessment approach means that qualifications cannot be moderated in the way, for example, that non-examined assessments can be in normal years. We trust teachers to make judgements of the grades reflected by their students’ evidence. They are best placed to understand their students’ performance. To support teachers, exam boards will check centres’ approaches to assessment and provide external quality assurance, including the review of a sample of grades. Head teachers will also have to sign a head of centre declaration form to confirm they support the grades submitted. Parents and pupils can have confidence in the grades awarded this summer. As set out in the guidance, this year’s quality assurance process is not designed to moderate grades but will support teachers to do what is needed and ensure centres adhere to the exam boards’ requirements, in order to ensure outcomes are as consistent as possible.

Outdoor Education: Coronavirus

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether dormitory rooms at outdoor education centres in England and Wales will be subject to individual occupancy restrictions once overnight residentials are permitted from 17 May 2021 as covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Nick Gibb: In line with the Government’s roadmap, the Department advises against domestic residential educational visits until at least step 3, no earlier than 17 May 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-response-spring-2021/covid-19-response-spring-2021 and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/actions-for-schools-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak/schools-coronavirus-covid-19-operational-guidance#educational-visits.The Department will update guidance in line with the timetable set out in the roadmap, including advice on educational visits.

Children: Health

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of establishing an annual survey of children's wellbeing.

Vicky Ford: The wellbeing of children and young people is a priority for this government. It is central to achieving the aims of the department and we have committed to publishing ‘State of the Nation: Children and Young People’s Wellbeing’ reports annually to bring together publicly available data, including that collected regularly by the Office of National Statistics on wellbeing.On 10 October 2020, the department published the second annual report which focused on children and young people’s experience associated with wellbeing during the COVID-19 outbreak. The report is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-of-the-nation-2020-children-and-young-peoples-wellbeing. The report has helped the government, children and young people’s services, schools, parents and anyone interested in children and young people’s wellbeing to understand their experiences of the COVID-19 outbreak, the measures put in place to reduce the impact of the outbreak, and the broader effects on society.We are continuing to monitor the emerging evidence on the experiences of children and young people during the outbreak to ensure the support measures being put in place by the government, including in the longer term, are informed by the most up-to-date evidence.In particular, Public Health England is monitoring the impacts of the outbreak, including on children and young people, and is publishing regular surveillance reports. Their report about population mental health and wellbeing in England during the COVID-19 outbreak was last updated on 8 April 2021: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-mental-health-and-wellbeing-surveillance-report.

Children in Care: Restraint Techniques

Christian Wakeford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data his department collects on the handcuffing or restraining of children in the care system.

Vicky Ford: All children’s homes, including secure children’s homes, are governed by the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 which have provisions around behaviour and restraint.The regulations and the quality standards require homes to have a behaviour management policy that focuses on establishing positive relationships with young people, encourages acceptable behaviour and sets out the acceptable restraint measures.There is a requirement for homes to record any incidents of restraint under Regulation 35 of the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015. There is also a requirement under Regulation 40 of the same regulations for the Registered Person to inform Ofsted of any incident in relation to a child that they consider to be serious. We are clear that restraint is only permissible in a very narrow range of circumstances as set out in Regulation 20 and must always be necessary and proportionate.In 2019, the government published guidance on reducing the need for restraint and restrictive intervention, which can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/812435/reducing-the-need-for-restraint-and-restrictive-intervention.pdf. The department does not collect any information on the use of handcuffs for children in the care system.

Sixth Form Education: Students

Yasmin Qureshi: What steps he is taking to support sixth form students to recover from disruption to their education as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

Gillian Keegan: We recognise that this has been a difficult period for sixth form students and so in this academic year we provided a £96 million 16-19 Tuition Fund for all providers of 16-19 education, including school sixth forms and sixth form colleges to provide catch up tuition for those most impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak. We recently announced a £102 million extension of the Fund for the 2021/22 academic year to ensure that students can recover from the disruption and continue to progress in their education. We have also appointed Sir Kevan Collins, as Education Recovery Commissioner, to advise the government on the approach for education recovery and will be working with him to develop a full catch-up programme across the education sector around focusing on time, teaching and targeted interventions.

Sixth Form Education

Sarah Olney: What steps his Department is taking to support local authorities in delivering their statutory duty to lead the transition to sixth form process for 16- and 17-year olds in their area.

Gillian Keegan: The department takes seriously its duty to support students during transition years and to assist them with progression to further education or training. We continue to support local authorities and monitor participation figures, with 94.4% of 16 and 17 year olds receiving an offer in education and training in 2020. Under the September Guarantee, all 16 and 17 year olds are entitled to an offer of a suitable place in education or training regardless of qualifications gained, and the government plans to invest over £7 billion during 2020/21, to ensure there is a place in education or training, including apprenticeships, for every 16 to 19 year old.

Ministry of Justice

Asylum: Domestic Abuse

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to ensure that parents and children fleeing abusive relationships abroad are protected from having to return to their country of origin under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction.

Chris Philp: When a left-behind parent applies to the court for the return of a child under the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, and where the taking parent opposes return, the taking parent can bring evidence before the court that there is a grave risk that the child’s return would expose the child to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place the child in an intolerable situation. The decision is for the court on the evidence put in front of it. In such cases, the court will consider evidence of an abusive relationship which has affected the child.

Courts: Staff

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of court staff availability for (a) existing courts, (b) courts operating extended hours including Saturday working, and (c) Nightingale courts.

Chris Philp: In the last 12 months we have recruited 1,600 additional members of staff to ensure that we have the resources required to respond to the challenges of the pandemic.We currently have the levels of resource necessary to support our existing court and tribunal operations, including Nightingale sites and Saturday courts in the Magistrates Courts, and we continue to recruit to ensure that staffing levels do not become a constraint on our recovery efforts.

Courts

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the effect of over-listing of cases by courts on (a) victims, (b) witnesses, (c) defendants, (d) lawyers and (e) the effective delivery of justice.

Chris Philp: Decisions on listings are taken by the judiciary, often after detailed case management hearings that include representations from all parties. When listing a trial the judiciary consider many factors including the impact on victims, witnesses, defendants, lawyers and most importantly the overall interests of justice. All agencies work together to ensure a balance between the best use of Criminal Justice System resources and the listing of trials. The judiciary works closely with agencies to prepare for trials, in order to ensure trials are both fair and effective.As a result of adhering to the principles of better case management (BCM), additional case management hearings are now taking place to ensure more efficient case progression. This encourages those cases that are likely to conclude without the need for a trial, to do so at an earlier stage, and in any event before the day of trial.

Courts: Coronavirus

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of facilities for lawyers to safely see their clients at courts during the covid-19 outbreak.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether he has considered the potential merits of using mobile units at courts to allow lawyers to meet their clients in a safe environment during the covid-19 outbreak.

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the safety of court cells for lawyers to meet clients during the covid-19 outbreak.

Chris Philp: HMCTS buildings are COVID-secure and we continuously monitor and review our guidance and practices to ensure that we are complying with the latest public health advice. There is an ongoing dialogue with legal professionals at all levels to allow them to feed into this process. Where there are concerns about capacity legal professionals can raise this locally, regionally or nationally. For staff and agency staff in HMCTS as a whole (including tribunals), positive test rates are falling in line with national numbers. The incident rate amongst staff is trending around the national average. The HMCTS Organisational Risk Assessment sets out the suite of measures put in place to ensure our buildings remain safe for those who use them, and these measures have been developed with the endorsement of public health agencies. All court and tribunal buildings are individually risk assessed – at least weekly – to make sure they continue to meet public health guidelines. These assessments include the spaces for lawyers to safely see their clients. A copy of the court assessment can be obtained from the senior person on site. Where it has been assessed as safe to do so, rooms within a court building suitable for private consultations are open. These rooms can be identified by posters on the doors, which confirm the maximum capacity and safety measures to be followed. More rooms will open once the Government’s review on social distancing measures and public health advice allows this to happen safely. In relation to mobile units, HMCTS has prioritised the available space on its estate to house portable cabins to increase the ability to conduct more jury trials. The cabins are used by jurors who are safely marshalled, to limit transmission risk, between the cabin and court room. HMCTS will continue to prioritise the use of cabins in this way as part of a wider package of recovery measures, such as the use of Nightingale courts, that form its overall response to the pandemic. Both HMCTS and HMPPS have taken action to provide measures to keep consolations with defendants in custody as safe as possible. Since the start of the pandemic, HMPPS took urgent action to enable the criminal justice system (CJS) to continue running by enabling CJS professionals to consult defendants in custody by video. First, it enabled secure remote access to the previously closed prison–to–court video links by deploying over 900 cloud video platform video meeting rooms. HMPPS then increased physical video capacity by over 50% in prisons with a remand function and by over 77% across the wider custodial estate. To date, 371 new video points have been installed, with further installations planned in the coming weeks. In addition, prisons with a remand function were asked to extend their video operating hours. There will be occasions when lawyers must meet their clients in the court cells. HMCTS works closely with the Prisoner Escort and Custody Services (PECS), who have the responsibility to risk assess the custody areas, to keep the same level of safety maintained throughout the court building. As public health advice changes, PECS review, assess and adapt their risk assessments accordingly to ensure that the custody suite remains safe. This ensures transmission risk is kept to a minimum during client consultations and the transfer of prisoners from cells to the court room. HMCTS will record, on its site-specific risk assessment, any safety concern identified by PECS and the action taken to resolve.

Courts: Tees Valley

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the backlog of outstanding cases was at (a) Teesside Magistrates' Court, (b) Teesside Combined Court and (c) Peterlee Magistrates' Court at the end of March in each year since 2010; and what the backlog of outstanding cases was at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court in each year since 2010 until that court was closed.

Chris Philp: The information requested can be found in the tables below.The first table represents the number of outstanding cases for Teesside Crown Court cases.The second table represents the number of outstanding cases at Teesside, Peterlee and Hartlepool Magistrates Courts.Teesside Crown Court cases are reported separately to Teesside Magistrates Court cases as they are different courts.HMCTS refer to all cases as outstanding rather than a backlog. Strictly speaking, the data below provided below is thus based on outstanding cases and not backlog of cases. There will always be a ‘stock’ of outstanding cases based on the size of each site and mix of cases.Teesside CrownTrialsSentencesAppealsMarch 202049713350March 201941310945March 20184358224March 20175678830March 20166047730March 20157355146March 20147027728March 20134749023March 20124576716March 20115565126March 20106156328 MagistratesDateTeessidePeterleeHartlepoolMar-205,2791,209 Mar-194,9351,441 Mar-185,4071,052 Mar-175,9701,125 Mar-162,6301,263301Mar-152,3871,570473Mar-142,8821,515492Mar-133,396797619Mar-123,382919601Mar-112,685632614Mar-102,827666934

Treasury

Taxation: Domicil

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an estimate of the number of people who have been affected by the change to the Statutory Residence Test announced on the 9 April 2020 in the (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21 financial years.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on revenue to the Exchequer of the change to the Statutory Residence Test announced on 9 April 2020 in the (a) 2019-20 and (b) 2020-21 financial years.

Jesse Norman: COVID-19 measures and guidance related to the Statutory Residence Test (SRT) have been estimated to have a negligible cost to the exchequer. This is because they will in most cases preserve what an individual's tax residence determination would be in the absence of COVID-19. The number of individuals affected by the change is expected to be small. Further information is available in the corresponding Tax Information and Impact Note on GOV.UK: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/895361/Statutory_Residence_Test.pdf

Taxation: Domicil

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) individuals and (b) organisations made representations to his Department on the change to the Statutory Residence Test announced on 9 April 2020.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the communication between (a) himself and his Department, (b) the Prime Minister and (c) the Prime Minister’s Office on the changes to the Statutory Residence Test announced on 9 April 2020.

Jesse Norman: At the start of the pandemic, HMT and HMRC received a large number of requests for easements, all of which were considered, resulting in more than 80 COVID-19 related easements and exemptions being introduced to support businesses and individuals since March 2020, with many of these still in place. The Government took a principled approach to changing the rules for the Statutory Residence Test so that any individual within certain critical sectors working on COVID-19 related activity would have benefited from the exemption. For further details, please see the statement published by the Prime Minister’s office on 23 April: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/information-relating-to-the-ventilator-challenge-and-the-statutory-residence-test

Credit: Companies

Stella Creasy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish a list of the meetings (a) in-person, (b) online and (c) by phone and other correspondence that (i) Ministers and (ii) in his Department officials have had with buy now, pay later companies in 2021 to date; and what the names were of those companies.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel

Public Sector: Redundancy Pay

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of revoking the regulations setting a maximum limit on public sector exit payments in (a) 2020-21 and (b) 2021-22; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Barclay: We do not have an estimate of the costs which may be incurred for future years for exit payments, as they are determined by the number and type of exits which take place in the year. From 2018/19 data reported in Whole of Government Accounts, the combined total cost of exit payments over £100,000 in 2018/19 was £200million. The Regulations set a maximum limit of £95,000 for in scope exit payments. We expected most exit payments that previously would have been above £100,000 to decrease in line with the cap. Therefore, overall savings would be less than the total cost of exits. Data for 2019/20 is not currently available.

Public Sector: Redundancy Pay

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to bring forward legislative proposals for limiting public sector exit payments.

Steve Barclay: The Government is working at pace to deliver a new controls procedure for Special Severance exit payments by June 2021. We remain committed to bringing forward new policy measures to address the wide-ranging arrangements that result in six-figure pay-outs across the public sector.

Free Zones: Ipswich

Tom Hunt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential effect of Freeport East on (a) skills and (b) employment opportunities in (i) Ipswich and (ii) the Ipswich area.

Steve Barclay: Freeports will increase trade, create employment and attract investment. The Government announced eight Freeports, including Freeport East, at the Budget. Each will now prepare their business cases, to agree with Government their plans and expected impacts.

Credit Unions: Assets

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect of discontinuities in credit union capital requirements on credit unions' capacity to grow assets beyond £10 million; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what representations he has received on changing credit union capital requirements; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to change credit union capital requirements to support credit unions to grow assets beyond £10 million; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with credit unions on support during the covid-19 outbreak; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: HM Treasury officials have regularly engaged with the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the credit union sector. I have also engaged with representatives from the credit union sector through the Consumer Finance Forum and Financial Inclusion Policy Forum, which are bringing financial services and consumer group representatives together to discuss how to best support people through this period.Fair4All Finance, the independent body set up by Government to distribute dormant assets funding to support financial inclusion, has set up a £5 million resilience fund to support credit unions and community development finance institutions in England during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 20 May 2020, the Government announced that additional funding through the dormant assets scheme would be released immediately to Fair4All Finance. This included an expanded Affordable Credit Scale-up Programme, which aims to improve the access and availability of affordable credit. I am also aware that credit unions have had access to wider COVID-19 support schemes, including the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and grant funding from local authorities.Capital requirements for credit unions are a matter for the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA). In March 2020, the PRA concluded its consultation into simplifying the capital regime for credit unions. This reduced complexity by removing the link between a credit union’s activities and membership with capital requirements, removed the old 2% capital buffer, and introduced a graduated rate approach to capital requirements. These proposals were broadly supported by the credit union sector.

Help to Buy Scheme: Individual Savings Accounts

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it the policy of the Government to raise the maximum purchase price of a house outside London which is eligible for purchase by people using the Help to Buy ISA.

John Glen: The Help to Buy: ISA scheme aims to help those struggling to save enough to get onto the housing ladder. The property price cap allows the Government to target support at the first-time buyers who need it the most. The scheme includes a higher property value cap of £450,000 for properties in London compared to £250,000 anywhere else in the UK. The latest statistics show that since the scheme was launched in 2015 359,250 property completions, including more than 25,000 completions in London, have been supported through the scheme with a mean property value of £174,281 compared to an average first-time buyer house price of £204,964 and a national average house price of £244,513. The Government keeps all aspects of savings policy under review.

Employment: Females

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the covid-19 recovery plan considers the needs of the female workforce.

Kemi Badenoch: To protect people’s jobs and livelihoods across the UK since the emergence of Covid-19, the Government has already provided support on a scale unmatched in recent history. As of 28 February, 2.14 million jobs held by women were supported by the CJRS, and by 31 January 632,000 women had claimed for SEISS. Alongside this, the Government’s Plan for Jobs launched action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2bn Kickstart scheme and £2.9bn Restart programme. In addition to our Plan for Jobs, our plan to Build Back Better will support the female workforce and drive economic growth by investing in infrastructure, skills and innovation. We also want to retain the positive culture shifts around flexible working that we have seen as a result of Covid-19 and support men and women to share care and work between them. We want to make it easier for people to work flexibly and in our manifesto we committed to further encouraging flexible working by consulting on making it the default unless employers have good reasons not to.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding his Department has received from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding his Department has received from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding his Department has received from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Kemi Badenoch: The money raised through the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is not linked to any specific programmes, or departmental spending. Departmental spend is allocated through Spending Reviews, by the Treasury. Since its introduction in April 2018, the provisional total for revenue raised from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy up to and including March 2021 is £878 million. This consists of the following amounts raised per financial year:  2018-19: £240 million2019-20: £337 million2020-21 (provisional): £301 million

Debts

Paul Blomfield: What assessment he has made of the change in the level of personal debt in the last 12 months.

John Glen: The Government is committed to understand the impact of COVID-19 on personal debt levels and to help people access the support they need to get their finances back on track. The Government works closely with the Money and Pensions Service (MaPS) to monitor financial difficulty through an annual survey and notes the Financial Conduct Authority’s biennial Financial Lives Survey. The latest findings from the Financial Lives Survey were published in February 2021. The findings include the impact of Covid-19 on people’s finances.

Multinational Companies: Taxation

Jonathan Edwards: What recent discussions he has had with his international counterparts on the potential merits of co-ordinated taxation of multinational companies.

Jesse Norman: The UK has been at the forefront of global efforts to update the international corporation tax framework in response to challenges created by digitisation, and it has played an active role at the OECD in helping to develop a comprehensive two-pillar solution. The Chancellor has made it a priority of the UK’s G7 presidency to support progress towards a final agreement by mid-2021 and he has regular discussions with his counterparts on these issues.

Social Enterprises: Tax Allowances

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the organisations that have benefited from social investment tax relief in each of the last five years.

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will list the (a) locations, (b) size, (c) charitable status and (d) sectors of organisations that have benefited from social investment tax relief in each of the last five years.

Jesse Norman: The requirement to maintain taxpayer confidentiality means it is not possible to disclose which specific businesses have used the Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) to raise investment. The registered locations of enterprises benefitting from SITR in this period are as follows:  2014-152015-162016-172017-182018-19East MidlandsFewer than 505Fewer than 50East of England00055London055Fewer than 55North EastFewer than 50000North WestFewer than 555Fewer than 55Scotland010Fewer than 555South EastFewer than 50Fewer than 5520South WestFewer than 5Fewer than 510510WalesFewer than 5Fewer than 5Fewer than 50Fewer than 5West Midlands0510520Yorkshire & Humber00Fewer than 5Fewer than 50Total525352575 Numbers have been rounded to the nearest five. Individual locations may not sum up to the total due to rounding. In order to maintain taxpayer confidentiality, any location with fewer than five organisations has been defined as ‘fewer than 5’. Information on the other requested characteristics of social enterprises using SITR is not readily available and cannot be provided within the time available. In order to qualify for SITR, enterprises must have fewer than 250 employees and less than £15 million gross assets at the time investment is received.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 1 March 2021, on financial support for sufferers of long covid, reference ZA54924.

Jesse Norman: The Financial Secretary responded to the Honourable Member’s correspondence on 23 April 2021.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of amending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme so that disabled workers who are concerned about returning to work due to their impairment have the right to be put on furlough if they cannot work from home.

Jesse Norman: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) has been available since the start of the pandemic. Shielding guidance is no longer in place, but Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) individuals can continue to be claimed for like everyone else, subject to the CJRS eligibility criteria. It is not for the Government to decide whether an individual firm should put its staff on furlough; that is a decision for the employer, in consultation with the employee. CEV individuals and those who are disabled should talk to their employer to discuss and agree options in relation to work, such as working from home, or returning to the workplace in a different role if their previous position cannot be fulfilled in a COVID-secure manner.

Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many businesses HMRC has taken action against for not passing on Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme support to employees.

Jesse Norman: The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) is a grant paid to employers so they can pay employees while they are furloughed.HMRC have over 6,000 employers under investigation, for a range of reasons, including not paying employees, making inflated claims, or making claims even though employees are still working. Within a single case there is often a number of reasons why HMRC are taking action.However, apart from the enforcement of National Minimum Wage, HMRC do not have a role in regulating the relationship between employers and employees. If the CJRS grant has not been passed on to employees, HMRC have no legal authority to enforce payment but take action to recover the grant for which the employer is not eligible. Employees can contact ACAS if they have concerns that they have not been able to resolve with their employer. Since February, HMRC have been publishing details of employers who have claimed a CJRS grant and have been informing employees of that claim via their personal tax account. Employees who have concerns that they have been furloughed but have not been paid (or have been asked to work) can contact HMRC. Details can be found on GOV.UK.

Self-employment Income Support Scheme

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the fourth instalment of the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme is accessible to people who have drawn a lump sum from their pension.

Ben Lake: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, for what reason pension income, including taxable elements of any lump sum drawdowns, is included within non-trading income calculations for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.

Jesse Norman: The Government recognises that many self-employed people have encountered immense challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has not been possible to support everyone as they would want. The design of the SEISS, including the requirement that trading profits must be at least equal to non-trading income, means it is targeted at those who need it the most and who rely most on their self-employed trade. Non-trading income includes income from pensions. The scheme provides value for money to the taxpayer while reaching as many people as possible. People ineligible for the SEISS on the basis of these criteria may be eligible for other elements of the package of support available, including Restart Grants, the Recovery Loan scheme, business rates relief, and other business support schemes.

Employment: Government Assistance

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department plans to provide support to employers for retraining their workers following the end of the Government's covid-19 job support schemes.

Jesse Norman: The changes to the level of employer contributions under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme align with the Government’s plan for lifting restrictions over the coming months. As the economy reopens, it is right that the Government asks employers to contribute more in order to strike the right balance between supporting the economic recovery past the end of the roadmap, to allow businesses time to plan and adjust, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns. The Government remains committed to ensuring it takes the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the UK. The Plan for Jobs, reinforced by the 2020 Spending Review, launched immediate action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2 billion Kickstart and £2.9 billion Restart schemes, and by doubling the number of DWP work coaches to 27,000. At Budget 2021, in order to provide further support to employment, the Government announced an additional £126 million for traineeships in England and set up a new £7 million fund to enable apprentices to work across different employers.

Employment: Government Assistance

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support will be available to employees when the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme is scaled back.

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of potential effect on the level of employment of the scaling back of the Government's covid-19 job support schemes following the end of the covid-19 outbreak.

Jesse Norman: The changes to the level of employer contributions under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme align with the Government’s plan for lifting restrictions over the coming months. As the economy reopens, it is right that the Government asks employers to contribute more in order to strike the right balance between supporting the economic recovery past the end of the roadmap, to allow businesses time to plan and adjust, and ensuring incentives are in place to get people back to work as demand returns. The Government remains committed to ensuring it takes the right action at the right time to support individuals and businesses in every region and nation of the UK. The Plan for Jobs, reinforced by the 2020 Spending Review, launched immediate action to support individuals to get into work, including through the £2 billion Kickstart and £2.9 billion Restart schemes, and by doubling the number of DWP work coaches to 27,000. At Budget 2021, in order to provide further support to employment, the Government announced an additional £126 million for traineeships in England and set up a new £7 million fund to enable apprentices to work across different employers.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Maldives: Counter-terrorism and Defence

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support his Department is providing to the Government of the Maldives to (a) help combat terrorism, (b) support transitional justice mechanisms and (c) support security and defence; and if he will publish the programme documents for those activities.

Nigel Adams: Through the Conflict, Security, and Stabilisation Fund (CSSF), the UK provides assistance to the Government of Maldives to implement reforms in governance, security and justice and community development. This programme includes supporting the legislative branch, broader governance support on judicial reform and providing military training for the Maldives National Defence Force as part of UK defence engagement. Our counter-terrorism focus includes capability building programmes for protection against terrorist attacks, preparation and resilience from the impact of terrorism, improvements to the criminal justice sector and inter-operability between key Counter Terrorism stakeholders. CSSF programme summaries for 2020/21 will be published before parliament rises for summer.

Developing Countries: Biodiversity and Climate Change

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how much and what proportion of the official development assistance budget was spent on climate and biodiversity in 2020-21.

James Duddridge: The Foreign Secretary has outlined via Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament the thematic and regional allocations for FCDO ODA spend. Official Development Assistance budgets for 2021/22, along with final audited spend for 2020/21, will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the Official Development Assistance spend was on (a) climate and biodiversity, (b) global health security, (c) girls’ education, (d) humanitarian preparedness and response, (e) science and technology, (f) open societies and conflict resolution, (g) economic development and trade and (h) cross-cutting contributions to multilateral partners and global funds in each of the last five years.

James Duddridge: The Statistics on International Development (SID) National Statistics, published on GOV.UK, provides an overview of all UK spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA).The SID table "Table A7" presents UK bilateral ODA by sector for 2015-2019 (last five available years): https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/920060/Table-A7.odsThe UK is one of the top Development Assistance Committee donors to provide core funding to multilateral organisations. The SID table "Table A1" presents core contributions to multilaterals, as well as bilateral through multilateral, for 2015-2019: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/920034/Table-A1.odsUK ODA figures for 2020 will be published in Autumn 2021, via Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2020.

Maldives: Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the human rights risk assessments undertaken for the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund in the Maldives in relation to the Government’s policy on Overseas Security and Justice Assistance.

Nigel Adams: UK assistance in Maldives is subject to robust Overseas Security and Justice Assistance (OSJA) assessments that analyse the potential human rights, international humanitarian law, political and reputational risks of any proposed assistance to ensure that it supports our values and is consistent with our domestic and international human rights obligations. OSJAs are not published as they are internal documents which include a sensitive UK assessment of the human rights situation in a country at a given time. Disclosure could prejudice the UK's relations with foreign states, as well as its interests and ability to promote those interests. To be useful, OSJA assessments must be honest and remain relevant. In some cases, assessments may draw on material that is not publicly available and has been provided to the UK "in confidence". Disclosure could affect provision of such information in the future and compromise the ability to make sound OSJA assessments going forward.

Jagtar Singh Johal

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will raise the case of Jagtar Singh Johal in his next discussion with his Indian counterpart.

Nigel Adams: We regularly raise Mr Johal's case directly with the Government of India, including his allegations of torture, his right to a fair trial, and concerns about delays to legal proceedings against him. We have emphasised to the Government of India the need for Mr Johal's torture allegations to be fully investigated.The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on 15 December 2020. The Secretary of State for International Trade raised the case with the Indian Minister for Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on 5 February. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kishan Reddy and with Minister Prasad on 15 March during his visit to India. Most recently Lord Ahmad raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian High Commissioner on 16 April.This Government will continue to look to raise our concerns about Mr Johal's case at all appropriate opportunities.

Developing Countries: Climate Change

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 16 April 2021 to Question 179382 and with reference to the Written Statement of 21 April 2021 on UK Official Development Assistance departmental allocations 2021-22, Official Report, HCWS935, if he will publish the Government’s budget allocations for the £11.6 billion allocated to international climate finance in each financial year from 2021-22 to 2025-26.

James Duddridge: The Government is committed to doubling UK International Climate Finance (ICF) to £11.6 billion over the next five years. In 2021/22 the UK Government (through the FCDO, BEIS and DEFRA) will spend at least £1.4 billion of ICF.The allocations for future years will be settled in subsequent Spending Reviews.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has made an assessment of the effect of the reduction to the official development assistance budget on progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

Nigel Adams: The Integrated Review reaffirmed our commitment to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Following a thorough review, the FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities, which are closely aligned with the SDGs, against a challenging financial climate of COVID. Officials considered any impact on women and girls, the most marginalised and vulnerable, people with disabilities and people from other protected groups, when developing advice to Ministers.COVID makes the challenge of achieving the SDGs even harder. Aid cannot do it alone. Mobilisation of domestic resources and private finance is critical, as has always been the case. The UK is demonstrating leadership on the SDGs, as one of the largest donors to the international response tackling COVID-19. And we will use our COP26 and G7 Presidencies this year to reinforce the importance of the SDGs on the global stage.

South Asia: Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterparts in (a) India, (b) Bangladesh, (c) Pakistan, (d) Afghanistan, (e) Nepal, in relation to the official development assistance budgets for 2021-22.

Nigel Adams: We have prioritised our aid to be more strategic and remain a force for good across the world. Following a thorough review, the FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against a challenging financial climate of COVID. Now the process is complete, we will work with our host countries, international partners and supply chains to deliver the budget changes set out in the Foreign Secretary's Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament.

South Asia: Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the proposed Official Development Assistance budgets for (a) Afghanistan, (b) Nepal, (c) Pakistan, (d) India and (e) Bangladesh for 2021-22.

Nigel Adams: Official Development Assistance budgets per country for 2021/22, along with final audited spend for 2020/21 will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

South Asia: Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish an impact assessment of the changes to the official development assistance budgets for (a) India, (b) Bangladesh, (c) Afghanistan, (d) Nepal and (e) Pakistan for 2021-22.

Nigel Adams: All posts were asked to consider any impact on women and girls, the most marginalised and vulnerable, people with disabilities and people from other protected groups, when developing advice to Ministers. Standalone country-specific impact assessments were not produced.

Overseas Aid

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to his Written Statement of 21 April 2021 on UK Official Development Assistance departmental allocations 2021-22, Official Report, HCWS935, in addition to Yemen, Syria, Somalia, and South Sudan which other countries will receive humanitarian aid in 2021; and how much official development assistance has been allocated to each country.

Nigel Adams: The Foreign Secretary has outlined via Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament the thematic and regional allocations for FCDO ODA spend. Official Development Assistance budgets per country for 2021/22, along with final audited spend for 2020/21, will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

Developing Countries: Sustainable Development

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the reduction in Overseas Development Assistance on the Government’s ability to help deliver 2030 targets for UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Nigel Adams: The Integrated Review reaffirmed our commitment to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Following a thorough review, the FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities, which are closely aligned with the SDGs, against a challenging financial climate of COVID. Officials considered any impact on women and girls, the most marginalised and vulnerable, people with disabilities and people from other protected groups, when developing advice to Ministers.COVID makes the challenge of achieving the SDGs even harder. Aid cannot do it alone. Mobilisation of domestic resources and private finance is critical, as has always been the case. The UK is demonstrating leadership on the SDGs, as one of the largest donors to the international response tackling COVID-19. And we will use our COP26 and G7 Presidencies this year to reinforce the importance of the SDGs on the global stage.

Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 April 2021, HCWS935 on FCDO Update, which countries his Department includes as part of (a) East Africa, (b) the Indo-Pacific and (c) South Asia; and how much Official Development Assistance was allocated to each of those regions in (i) 2019-20 and (ii) 2020-21.

Nigel Adams: In reference to the Written Ministerial Statement (WMS), the following countries were included:East Africa: Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, UgandaIndo-Pacific and South Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal, China, Indonesia and MyanmarThe Statistics on International Development (SID) National Statistics, published on GOV.UK, provides an overview of all UK spend on Official Development Assistance (ODA)ODA is an international measure and is collected and reported on a calendar year basis. UK ODA figures for 2020 will be published in Autumn 2021, via Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2020. As such we present ODA spend below for 2019 onlyUsing the WMS definition of countries included in the East Africa region, the FCDO provided £1,375 million of bilateral ODA to East Africa in 2019In the WMS, countries in South Asia are included within the term of the ‘Indo-Pacific’. Using the WMS definition of countries included in the Indo-Pacific region, the FCDO provided £537 million of bilateral ODA (not including Afghanistan and Pakistan), and £501 million of bilateral ODA to Afghanistan and PakistanThese regions will also receive aid from multilaterals, to which the UK contributes. The UK imputed multilateral estimates are published in SID table "Table A10": https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/967844/Table_A10.ods

Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to his oral evidence of 22 April to the International Development Select Committee on the future of UK aid, which country plans have been finalised.

Nigel Adams: We are currently in the process of finalising the country plans.  Full Official Development Assistance budgets per country, along with final audited spend for 2020/21 will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts in due course.

Yemen: Overseas Aid

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what  assessment his Department has made of the effect of the 2021-22 reduction in Overseas Development Assistance on (a) the humanitarian response, (b) health, (c) poverty alleviation, (d) food security and nutrition and (e) conflict resolution in Yemen.

James Cleverly: The impact of the pandemic on the UK economy has forced us to take tough decisions, including temporarily reducing the overall amount we spend on aid. For Yemen, we have pledged at least £87 million for this financial year. This will feed 240,000 of the most vulnerable Yemenis every month, support 400 healthcare clinics and provide clean water for 1.6 million people. We will also provide one-off cash support to 1.5 million of Yemen's poorest households to help them buy food and basic supplies.We fully support the peace process led by the UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, and urge the parties to engage constructively with this process. On 1 March 2021 I [Minister Cleverly] spoke to UN Special Envoy Griffiths about how best the UK can help him end the war.The FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in14714 accordance with UK strategic priorities against the challenging financial climate of COVID. Officials considered any impact on women and girls, the most marginalised and vulnerable, people with disabilities and people from other protected groups, when developing advice to Ministers.

Mehran Raoof

Wayne David: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Iran to ensure that Mehran Raoof is able to meet with a lawyer and receive appropriate legal representation before and at his trial; and whether a representative of his Department will attend that trial which is due to take place on 28 April.

James Cleverly: We are supporting the family of Mehran Raoof during this difficult time, are in close contact with them and following their wishes in providing the support they want from us. The Foreign Secretary continues to raise the UK's serious concerns about Iran's practice of detaining foreign and dual nationals with Foreign Minister Zarif, most recently on 3 April, and the Prime Minister has raised the issue with President Rouhani, most recently on 10 March.

Conflict, Stability and Security Fund

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant of the Written Statement of 21 April 2021 on FCDO update, Official Report HCWS935, how much and what proportion of the £419m of Official Development Assistance spending on Open societies and conflict resolution is allocated to the Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.

James Cleverly: The Written Ministerial Statement of 2021 sets out the FCDO departmental ODA programme budget allocations. It does not include Conflict, Stability and Security Fund allocations, which are made separately by the Cabinet Office.

Syria: Overseas Aid

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the 2021-22 reduction in Overseas Development Assistance on (a) the humanitarian response, (b) health, (c) poverty alleviation, (d) food security and nutrition and (e) conflict resolution in Syria.

James Cleverly: Following a thorough review, the FCDO's aid budget has been allocated in accordance with UK strategic priorities against the challenging financial climate of COVID. UK Aid will continue to prioritise humanitarian response and conflict resolution as part of its core priorities for poverty reduction.The Syria crisis remains one of the UK's top priorities. The ongoing humanitarian crisis, deteriorating economic conditions, and growing food insecurity in Syria, means we must seek more sustainable, long-term solutions to increase the resilience of millions living in conflict. Last month the UK pledged at least £205 million in 2021 to continue providing life-saving and life-sustaining assistance in Syria and across neighbouring countries. This brings our total support to over £3.7 billion since 2012. The FCDO will now work through what this means for individual programmes, in line with the priorities we have outlined.

Palestinians: Israel

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the 121 per cent increase in Palestinian structures targeted for demolition or seizure by the Israeli authorities in the first quarter of 2021, compared to the same period in the previous year.

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the finding by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of a more than doubling of the donor-funded aid items targeted for demolition or confiscation by the Israeli authorities in the first quarter of 2021, compared with the monthly average in 2020, what additional steps he will take to deter further demolitions and confiscations of humanitarian aid in the West Bank.

James Cleverly: The UK regularly raises the demolition of Palestinian property with the Government of Israel, including over the repeated confiscation and demolition of donor-funded assistance and structures. The Fourth Geneva Convention, which applies to all occupied territories, prohibits demolitions or forced evictions absent military necessity. The UK is clear that in all but the most exceptional of circumstances, demolitions are contrary to International Humanitarian Law. The practice causes unnecessary suffering to Palestinians and is harmful to efforts to promote peace.The UK urged the Government of Israel to end demolitions of property in the West Bank at the UN Security council on 25 March 2021. On the same day, the British Ambassador in Tel Aviv raised ongoing demolitions with the Israeli authorities in a meeting alongside like-minded partners. I called on Israel to stop demolitions on 5 February 2021 and raised my concerns about the demolitions of Palestinian homes and structures with the Israeli Ambassador on 29 October 2020. UK officials from the British Consulate in Jerusalem have made regular visits to areas at risk of demolition and eviction to reiterate UK support for those communities.

China: Human Rights

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to support students in China who demonstrated against sanctions imposed on a British academic who spoke out against human rights abuses in that country.

Nigel Adams: As the Foreign Secretary has made clear, China's attempt to silence those highlighting human rights violations in Xinjiang, including academics, is unwarranted and unacceptable. Academic freedom and freedom of speech are fundamental UK values and cornerstones of the UK's world class higher education system. The FCDO are offering support to all those impacted by these sanctions. We will continue to work with international partners to build the international caucus of those willing to speak out against China's human rights violations, and we will continue to call on China to respect freedom of expression.

Taiwan: Politics and Government

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Chinese Government's recent military threats against Taiwan, what recent steps he has taken in response to the political situation in Taiwan.

Nigel Adams: The UK's longstanding position on Taiwan has not changed. We are concerned by any action which raises tensions in the region and risks destabilising the status quo. The UK Government considers the Taiwan issue one to be settled peacefully by the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait through constructive dialogue.

Tibet: Politics and Government

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs,  what recent steps he has taken in response to the political situation in Tibet.

Nigel Adams: On 22 February, the Foreign Secretary expressed his deep concerns about the human rights situation in Tibet in a ministerial statement at the Human Rights Council. Officials have also raised concerns with the Chinese Embassy in London and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing in recent months. We consistently urge China to respect all fundamental rights in line with both its own constitution and the international frameworks to which it is a party. We will continue to raise the situation in Tibet with the Chinese authorities.

Mohamed Adjevi

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will hold discussions with the Moroccan Ambassador and instruct HM Ambassador to Morocco to raise with the Moroccan authorities the case of the British passport holder, Mohamed Adjevi who is being held by the Moroccan authorities and allegedly tortured.

James Cleverly: We take all allegations or concerns of torture and mistreatment very seriously and will follow up with action, as appropriate. When considering how to act, we will avoid any action that might put the British National or any other person that may be affected at risk

Malaysia: Foreign Relations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Malaysian counterpart on that country's expulsion of North Korean diplomats.

Nigel Adams: We have noted that the Malaysian Government expelled all DPRK diplomats from Malaysia on 21 March, and that the DPRK severed diplomatic relations with Malaysia on 19 March. The Foreign Secretary has not discussed the matter with his Malaysian counterpart.

Ukraine: Conflict Resolution

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to his Written Statement of 21 April 2021 on UK Official Development Assistance departmental allocations 2021-22, Official Report, HCWS935, how much of the £419 million of Official Development Assistance being spent on Open societies and conflict resolution is allocated to programmes in Ukraine.

Wendy Morton: The 2021-22 ODA allocations will focus our investment and expertise on issues where the UK can make the most difference and achieve maximum strategic coherence, impact, and value for money. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office will now work through what this means for individual programmes, in line with the priorities we have identified. Over the last year the UK provided a total of £40 million to support Ukraine's reform programme alongside broader UK conflict prevention and management objectives

Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the proposed official development assistance budget for 2021-22.

Nigel Adams: A Written Ministerial Statement setting out Official Development Assistance allocations to Government departments was laid on 26 January 2021 (HCWS735).A further Written Ministerial Statement setting out the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office thematic and regional allocations was laid on 21 April 2021 (HCWS935).

Pakistan: Forced Marriage

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Pakistani counterpart on (a) the case of Kavita Oad and (b) other girls who have been kidnaped and forcibly converted and married in Pakistan in the last 12 months.

Nigel Adams: The UK Government strongly condemns the forced marriage and forced conversion of women and girls in Pakistan. The FCDO does not comment on individual cases.We regularly raise our concerns on these issues with the Government of Pakistan. Most recently, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, the Minister of State responsible for Human Rights and South Asia, raised our human rights concerns, including Freedom of Religion or Belief, with Pakistan's Special Representative for Religious Harmony, Tahir Ashrafi, on 23 March. Lord Ahmad also raised these concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights, Dr Shireen Mazari, on 20 February. Pakistan remains a FCDO Human Rights Priority Country.

Tanveer Ahmed Rafique

Sarah Owen: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 April 2021 to Question 179592, if he will publish an update on support provided to Tanveer Ahmed Rafique.

Nigel Adams: The FCDO continues to have regular contact with prison authorities in Pakistan to check on Mr Rafique's welfare and have sought assurances that medical staff will continue to monitor his health. His family are being kept informed of all developments and we continue to speak to Mr Rafique, his friends and lawyers. Whilst prison visits are suspended due to the pandemic, we continue to arrange telephone calls with Mr Rafique to discuss any welfare and health issues. Mr Rafique has engaged new lawyers to support him through the next stage of his legal case.We regularly raise at a senior level our concerns about the human rights situation with the Government of Pakistan. On 20 February, Minister of State for South Asia and Minister responsible for Human Rights, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, discussed our human rights concerns with Pakistan's Minister for Human Rights.

Developing Countries: Education

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant of the Written Statement of 21 April 2021 on FCDO update, Official Report HCWS935, how much of the Girls Education spending will be for projects in (a) Afghanistan, (b) South Sudan, (c) Sudan, (d) Yemen, (e) Somalia and  (f) Myanmar.

Wendy Morton: The Foreign Secretary laid a statement before the House of Commons on 21 April 2021, setting out how he is directing the FCDO's aid portfolio this year. He announced that the FCDO will spend £400 million on girls' education, investing directly in over 25 countries, to help achieve he global target of getting 40 million girls into education. FCDO will now work through what this means for individual programmes in line with the priorities outlined.

Developing Countries: Education

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant of the Written Statement of 21 April 2021 on FCDO update, Official Report HCWS935, what percentage difference is in ODA spending on Girls Education between 2021-22 and 2020-21.

Wendy Morton: The Foreign Secretary laid a statement before the House of Commons on 21 April 2021, setting out how he is directing the FCDO's aid portfolio this year. He announced that the FCDO will spend £400 million on girls' education, investing directly in over 25 countries, which will help to achieve the global target of getting 40 million girls into education. FCDO will now work through what this means for individual programmes, in line with the priorities outlinedFinal audited spend for 2020/21 will be published in the Annual Report and Accounts. Final 2020 spend will be published in Statistics on International Development: Final UK Aid Spend 2020 in the autumn this year and will contain detailed breakdowns of the UK's ODA spend for 2020, including an activity level dataset.

Canada: Climate Change

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his Canadian counterpart on the effect of climate change on the Inuit community in that country.

Wendy Morton: The strength of the UK and Canada partnership is rooted in shared values, and the importance of tackling climate change is a consistent theme in our regular ministerial calls. Indigenous peoples are stewards of 80 percent of the world's remaining biodiversity, and bring a wealth of knowledge and leadership to climate action, which will be vital to achieving our climate goals at COP26.The UK's diplomatic network is involved in a range of events and projects in Canada in the run-up to COP26 later this year, and the involvement of the country's indigenous peoples has been, and will continue to be, a key part of these.

Myanmar: Politics and Government

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent steps he has taken in response to the political situation in Myanmar.

Nigel Adams: The UK is clear that the military must respect the results of the November 2020 general election and accept the expressed wishes of the people of Myanmar. We will continue to put pressure on them to that end. The UK is working with partners across the region and the international community who share our ambitions and aims for a democratic Myanmar.The UK has coordinated a strong international response including through the UN Security Council and the G7. We secured a Presidential Statement at the UN Security Council on 10 March which condemned the violent crackdown on peaceful protestors.The Foreign Secretary and I have spoken to a wide range of counterparts, including the US, France, Germany and Japan. We have also engaged with partners in ASEAN, including with the ASEAN Secretary General, to seek a strong and coordinated response. We welcome ASEAN's Five Point Plan on Myanmar and agree with ASEAN Leaders that the violence must end immediately.We are clear that the military must pay the price for their actions. The UK recently imposed sanctions on the two key military linked conglomerates that fund the military's actions, and on nine senior military figures. We also conducted aid and trade reviews to ensure that we are not supporting the military's economic interests.

Tanzania: Coronavirus

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with the President of Tanzania on that country's response to the covid-19 pandemic; and what support the Government is providing to that country on that matter.

James Duddridge: Tanzania's new President Samia Suluhu Hassan gave a speech on 6 April announcing a task force of experts to assess the domestic situation with regards to COVID-19 in order to advise the Government on how to handle COVID-19 in Tanzania. The UK welcomes these indications of a change in approach. We look forward to discussions with the new Government on where we may be able to offer assistance, as the UK has been concerned that the Government of Tanzania has not released any information on the numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths since 29 April 2020. The British High Commission continues to work with international and local partners to encourage a positive response to COVID-19 from the Government of Tanzania, including encouraging them to join COVAX.

Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will publish the Official Development Assistance his Department disbursed where gender equality was the main objective of that assistance for the financial years (a) 2015, (b) 2016, (c) 2017, (d) 2018, (e) 2019 and (f) 2020.

Wendy Morton: FCDO's ODA spend, including that on gender equality activities and past spend, is made publicly available through the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) statistics portal. All ODA spend is screened against the OECD gender equality policy marker. This is a measurement of the proportion of aid that supports gender equality and women's empowerment. An activity can be marked as 'principal' if gender equality is the main objective of the programme, or as a 'significant' if gender equality is an important and deliberate objective, but not the principal reason for undertaking the programme.The latest figures available (2019) show that approximately 68 per cent of the former Department for International Development (DFID) and the former Foreign & Commonwealth Office's (FCO) total bilateral spend was marked principal or significant. This equates to £5.2 billion. Figures for previous years are also available on the OECD statistics portal. The 2020 figures have not yet been released. Advancing gender equality and women's and girls' rights are a core part of this Government's mission and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this agenda. The UK's Gender Equality Act 2014, legally requires all overseas development funding to meaningfully consider the impact of how it will contribute to reducing gender inequality.

Bahrain: Human Rights

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his counterpart in Bahrain on prison conditions and respect for human rights in that country.

James Cleverly: Defending human rights and promoting democracy around the world is a core priority for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and its diplomatic network. The UK government monitors events and cases in Bahrain closely. We regularly raise human rights issues and individual cases with the Government of Bahrain, at senior levels, both in private and public. The Government of Bahrain has been clear in public statements that access to medical care for those in detention is guaranteed by the Constitution of Bahrain. Any concerns regarding prison conditions should be submitted to the Independent Ombudsman and the National Institute of Human Rights for further investigation. We continue to encourage the government of Bahrain to deliver on its international and domestic human rights commitments.

Colombia: Politics and Government

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has been made of the implications for his policies of calls by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Colombia for urgent action in response to high levels of violence and insecurity in the Colombian region of Buenaventura.

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Colombian counterpart on urgently implementing agreements signed by the Colombian Government with communities in Buenaventura as recommended by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on 19 March 2021.

Wendy Morton: The UK Government remains concerned about reports of violence and insecurity in Colombia, including in Buenaventura. Embassy teams have visited Buenaventura twice this year to meet with key local stakeholders to discuss peace and security challenges. In April, the Embassy attended and supported the launch of the Buenaventura Search Pact, signed by the Unit for the Search for Disappeared People, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, the Truth Commission, and the representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. The Pact is an initiative to support families of people that have disappeared and put in place measures to address forced disappearances, structural violence and insecurity in Buenaventura.This support is part of the UK's efforts to help implement the 2016 Peace Accords and improve security, human rights, and justice in Colombia. In addition, UK ministers and senior officials regularly raise human rights issues with their Colombian counterparts. Most recently, the UK's Ambassador for Human Rights, Rita French, raised our concerns around levels of violence, on a virtual visit to Colombia in February. We will continue to raise our concerns with the relevant state actors in Colombia.

Abbas Malallah

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the death of Abbas Mallallah, in Jau Prison, Bahrain, if the Government will support an independent investigation into Abbas Mallallah's death as requested by the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, Human Rights Watch and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

James Cleverly: We are aware of the reports surrounding the death of Abbas Mallallah. The Government of Bahrain has been clear in its public statements that access to medical care for those in detention is guaranteed by the constitution of Bahrain. We would encourage those with concerns about treatment in detention to report them to the appropriate human rights oversight body and we continue to urge the oversight bodies to carry out swift and thorough investigations into any claims made.

Bahrain: Political Prisoners

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Bahraini counterpart on the Amnesty International report, published on 9 April 2021 on the findings that (a) Jau Prison is severely overcrowded in violation of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, (b) preventative measures against covid-19 are inadequate with a lack of face masks, hand sanitizer and regular testing,(c) prisoners who tested positive with covid-19 have had their phone calls interrupted and (d) the Bahraini Government has not release updated accurate information of over 70 covid-19 cases in that prison.

James Cleverly: We have regularly discussed the challenge of managing the covid-19 pandemic in prisons with senior members of the Bahraini government. The government has informed us that: health protections have been in place in all facilities since the pandemic began, including routine testing of inmates and prison staff; a choice of vaccines is available to all prisoners, to date 100% of prisoners who have been registered for a vaccine have received it; and that all positive cases among those in custody are currently stable, with full access to medical treatment. We continue to monitor these conditions through our regular contact with the oversight bodies. We also welcome the assurances that all prisoners are eligible for the vaccination, free of charge and in line with WHO guidelines, and that any prisoner who falls ill has the same free access to treatment and care as any other citizen or resident in the Kingdom. We continue to discuss covid-19 in prisons with the Ombudsman, the NIHR (National Institute for Human Rights) and the PDRC (Prisoners and Detainees Rights Commission), which actively monitor the covid-19 situation through inspection visits (NIHR and PDRC) and investigations (Ombudsman) into prison conditions. We would encourage anyone with concerns about medical treatment in prison to get in touch with the oversight bodies directly.

Bahrain: Political Prisoners

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the reported arrests of the relatives of political prisoners, Mohammed Ramadhan and Mohammed AlDaqqaq, following peaceful protests in Bahrain, what assessment he has made of reports of the criminalisation and targeting of the relatives of political prisoners who exercise their rights to freedom of expression and assembly in that country.

James Cleverly: We have consistently underlined, across the region, the importance of respect for the right to peaceful protest, and freedom of speech. The UK supports freedom of expression and freedom of speech as both a fundamental right in itself, and as an essential element of a full range of human rights. Bahrain remains a human rights priority country partly due to our concerns around restrictions on these freedoms.

Husain Ali al-Sahlawi

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to his Bahraini counterpart on ensuring that Bahraini political prisoner, Husain Al Sahlawi, receives urgent medical operations to remove potentially cancerous ulcer and treat a cyst on his eye which obscures his sight.

Brendan O'Hara: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what representations he has made to his Bahraini counterpart on political prisoner, Sayed Nizar Alwadaei who has been placed in solitary confinement after testing positive for covid-19 in violation of the UN Minimum Standard for the Treatment of Prisoners.

James Cleverly: We have previously raised the cases of Sayed Nizar Alwadaei and Husain Al Sahlawi with senior members of the Bahraini government and we continue to monitor these cases. The Government of Bahrain has been clear that access to medical care for those in detention is provided in line with the Constitution of Bahrain. We welcome these assurances and would encourage those with any concerns about treatment in detention to raise them with the appropriate Bahraini human rights oversight body.

China: Myanmar

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with representatives of the (a) UN and (b) Chinese Embassy in London on the Chinese Government's alleged role in the suppression of communications in Myanmar.

Nigel Adams: The violent and draconian crackdown on peaceful protestors is completely unacceptable and requires a strong message from the international community. The people's right to protest and communicate freely must be respected. I met the United Nations Special Envoy to Myanmar to discuss the UK's concern at the coup and how we can ensure a coordinated international response. We also discussed the situation with the United Nations Special Rapporteur, expressing the UK's concern at the human rights violations, such as suppression of communication, currently being committed in Myanmar. The Foreign Secretary and I, as Minister for Asia, have spoken to a wide range of counterparts, including the US, France, Germany and Japan. We have also engaged with partners in ASEAN, including with the ASEAN Secretary General, to seek a strong and coordinated response. We welcome ASEAN's Five Point Plan on Myanmar and agree with ASEAN Leaders that the violence must end immediately.

Myanmar: Demonstrations

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what support he has offered his counterpart in Myanmar since the pro-democracy demonstrations in that country on 27 March 2021.

Nigel Adams: The UK has been clear in its condemnation of the coup which took place in Myanmar on 1 February 2021 and subsequent violence by the military which has left 750 people dead. We have coordinated statements through the G7 and UN Security Council, where we secured a Presidential Statement condemning the violence and calling for respect for the democratic transition. The UK stands in solidarity with all those calling for a return to democracy. The Foreign Secretary and I, as Minister for Asia, have spoken to a wide range of counterparts, including the US, France, Germany and Japan. We have also engaged with partners in ASEAN, including with the ASEAN Secretary General, to seek a strong and coordinated response. We welcome ASEAN's Five Point Plan on Myanmar and agree with ASEAN Leaders that the violence must end immediately. We have provided a platform for pro-democracy voices at the UN Human Rights Council and UN Security Council. In response to the military's appalling human rights violations, the UK has imposed sanctions on two key military linked conglomerates that fund the military's actions, and on nine senior military figures.

Overseas Aid

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 April 2021, HCWS935 on FCDO Update, how much and what proportion of UK aid will have gender equality as a (a) significant and (b) principal objective.

Wendy Morton: Advancing gender equality and women's and girls' rights is a core part of this Government's mission and we remain steadfast in our commitment to this agenda. The UK's Gender Equality Act 2014, legally requires all overseas development funding to meaningfully consider the impact of how it will contribute to reducing gender inequality.The portfolio agreed by the Foreign Secretary will focus our investment and expertise on issues where the UK can make the most difference and achieve maximum strategic coherence, impact, and value for money. The FCDO will now work through what this means for individual programmes, so we cannot provide future figures. The proportion of UK aid spend in all areas of our work changes year on year, including on gender equality. The FCDO's ODA spend, including data against the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) gender policy marker, is made publicly available through the OECD statistics portal. The latest figures available (2019) show that approximately 68% of the former Department for International Development (DFID) and the former Foreign & Commonwealth Office's (FCO) total bilateral spend was marked principal or significant and equates to £5.2 billion.

Overseas Aid

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Written Statement of 21 April 2021, HCWS935 on UK Official Development Assistance departmental allocations 2021-22, if he will publish the details of the thematic areas into which girls' education can be broken down.

Wendy Morton: The Foreign Secretary laid a statement before the House of Commons on 21 April 2021, which sets out how he is directing the FCDO's aid portfolio this year. He announced that the FCDO will spend £400 million on girls' education, investing directly in over 25 countries, which will help achieve the global target to get 40 million girls into education. FCDO will now work through what this means for individual programmes, in line with the priorities outlined.Official Development Assistance (ODA) is reported on a calendar year basis. The FCDO's National Statistics publication, 'Statistics on International Development' next year will contain detailed breakdowns of the UK's ODA spend for 2021, including an activity level dataset. FCDO publishes regular open data through the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI). This operational data covers current live programmes, and will include 2021 spend once business planning is concluded. The raw data can be accessed at the IATI Registry and is shown on the Development Tracker website: https://devtracker.fcdo.gov.uk/

Jonathan Taylor

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will make representations to the Croatian authorities on the case of Mr Jonathan Taylor who has been detained in that country since his arrest for alleged bribery or corruption.

Wendy Morton: We are providing ongoing support to Mr Taylor. Consular staff are in regular contact with him and continue to seek updates on his case from the Croatian courts. As set out in the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, we cannot interfere in the internal affairs of other countries, or bypass their laws, just as we would not accept similar interference here. As part of our consular assistance to British nationals overseas we can raise concerns about individuals on diplomatic channels. I spoke to the Monegasque Foreign Secretary and the Croatian State Secretary for European Affairs on 13 November 2020 and sought assurances that both authorities would treat Mr Taylor fairly. On 22 April, I spoke again to the Croatian State Secretary for European Affairs who reiterated those assurances and noted the significant level of ministerial and parliamentary interest in Mr Taylor's case.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many financial mitigation payments have been made to his Department's personnel based in Scotland in relation to the Scottish rate of income tax; and at what salary level those payments began.

Leo Docherty: Since Tax Year (TY) 2018-19, retrospective mitigation payments have been made to those Regular Service personnel adversely affected, by £12 or more, through having to pay higher rates of income tax in Scotland compared to their counterparts resident outside Scotland. Not all Service personnel meeting the residency requirement for paying Scottish income tax serve in Scotland, and not all those who serve in Scotland are resident there for tax purposes. So far, the Ministry of Defence has made just over 14,000 mitigation payments covering TYs 2018-19 and 2019-20. These have been triggered where gross taxable earnings (i.e. not just pay) have been £27,200 or more in TY 2018-19, or £28,193 or more in TY 2019-20. Payments covering TY 2020-21 will be made in June, to those whose gross taxable earnings have been £28,443 or more.

Nuclear Weapons: Testing

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what (a) health measures and (b) radiobiological monitoring did the Government introduce after the British Nuclear Test Programme ended in 1991 for (i) all service personnel involved in the operations, (ii) all indigenous peoples living near or on the test sites during or after the time of operations, (iii) any others locally present during operations or now living near the test sites.

Leo Docherty: The UK atmospheric nuclear test programme experimented on weapons not Service personnel; the health of all those involved was a vital consideration, as shown by the detailed documented safety measures and radiobiological monitoring that took place during experiments. The Service personnel who took part were not subject to ongoing routine health measures or radiobiological monitoring after the programme ended. To date, any published peer-reviewed research has found no evidence of a general excess of illness or mortality among nuclear test veterans as a group that could be linked to their participation in the tests. Any nuclear test veterans who believe they have suffered ill health due to service, have the right to apply for no-fault compensation under the War Pensions Scheme. In 1968, the UK and Australia signed an agreement confirming that the clean-up of all test sites had been completed satisfactorily. As announced to the House on 10 December 1993, (Official Report, column 421), the Government agreed to make an ex gratia payment of £20 million to the Federal Government of Australia as part of a full and final settlement of the UK Government’s liability for any claims resulting from the British test programme. A copy of the note giving effect to this agreement was placed in the Library of the House. The note also records that the Government of Australia indemnified the Government of the UK against claims from Australian nationals or residents. The Government now regards the matter as closed.

Ministry of Defence: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what surplus land in Scotland his Department has disposed of in each of the last five years; and (a) who the buyer was and (b) how much was paid in each case.

Jeremy Quin: The names, locations, property descriptions and sale years for sites disposed of in Scotland from 2016 to 2021 are listed below: Establishment NameProperty DescriptionSale Year (By FY)TAYSIDE VOLUNTEER ESTATEArmy Reserve Centre2016MORMOND HILL COMMS SITE - RETIREDFormer Forward Scatter Site2016STRATHCLYDE VOLUNTEER ESTATEDisposal Part ATC Site, Hillington Park2017LTPA LOCH GOILRemaining Land 0.164 to Community 0.046 to Castle Carrick2018KIRKCUDBRIGHT TRAINING AREA25 sq m site for electricity sub station with associated servitude rights for overhead and underground cabling2018GPSS LINKSWOODPart of field south of redundant GPSS site Linkswood2018GPSS LINKSWOODAmenity land north of redundant GPSS site Linkswood2018VULCAN NAVAL REACTOR TEST ESTABLISHMENTFormer family quarter2018VULCAN NAVAL REACTOR TEST ESTABLISHMENTService Family Accommodation2018VULCAN NAVAL REACTOR TEST ESTABLISHMENTSingle Living Accommodation2018GPSS TURRIFFRedundant GPSS site Turriff2019GPSS LINKSWOODRedundant GPSS site, Linkswood2019GPSS HEATHFIELDRedundant GPSS site, Heathfield2019GPSS FORFARRedundant GPSS site, Forfar2019LEUCHARS STATIONTelecommunications Site, Outhmuir2019GRAMPIAN VOLUNTEER ESTATESurplus land to rear of Army Reserve Centre2019MOD CALEDONIASolum of Foreshore and Seabed2020RRS SAXA VORDOld Radar Station, Vallafield RAF2020 The purchaser details and sale prices for the disposed sites has been withheld in view of contractual confidentiality.

Military Bases: Environmental Audit

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2020 to Question 285057 on Cape Wrath, who the industry partner is that undertakes routine internal audits of Environmental Management Systems delivered across the UK Training Estate including Cape Wrath.

Jeremy Quin: The Defence Infrastructure Organisation manage the Defence Training Estate across the UK in partnership with its industry partner, Landmarc Support Services Ltd. Landmarc Support Services Ltd is the company who undertakes internal audits of Environmental Management Systems across the UK Defence Training Estate, including Cape Wrath.

Military Bases: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of uniformed contractors based at (a) Faslane and (b) Coulport are Scottish taxpayers.

James Heappey: At 31 December 2020, 535 uniformed contractors were employed at Faslane. Of these, 470 were Scottish taxpayers, which translates to 88% of the total.At 31 December 2020, 419 uniformed contractors were employed at Coulport. Of these, 370 were Scottish taxpayers, which translates to 89% of the total.These figures reflect Ministry of Defence Police and Ministry of Defence Guard Service employees, who are Ministry of Defence civilian employees. The term 'uniformed contractor' has been translated to mean those employees who are neither civilian contractor, non-uniform civilian, or Service personnel.

Military Bases: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of civilian employees who are not contractors based at (a) Faslane and (b) Coulport are Scottish taxpayers.

James Heappey: At 31 December 2020, 1,015 civilian employees who are not contractors were employed at Faslane. Of these, 925 were Scottish taxpayers, which translates to 91% of the total.At 31 December 2020, 475 civilian employees who are not contractors were employed at Coulport. Of these, 425 were Scottish taxpayers, which translates to 89% of the total.

Navy: Scotland

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of uniformed Royal Navy personnel based at (a) Faslane and (b) Coulport are Scottish taxpayers.

James Heappey: At 1 January 2021, 3,624 uniformed Royal Navy Service personnel were stationed at locations in Argyll and Bute, comprising the Faslane and Coulport sites. Of these, 1,393 personnel were Scottish taxpayers, which translates to 38.4% of the total.

Leidos: Contracts

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid to Leidos to operate the logistics, commodities and services transformation programme in each year since 2015.

Jeremy Quin: The Ministry of Defence has made the following payments to Leidos to operate the Logistics, Commodities and Services Transformation programme since 2015:  Year£million (ex-VAT)2015-16892016-172682017-183262018-193852019-204322020-213552021-2213 The cost for 2020-21 has yet to be finalised and fully paid. The figure for 2021-22 covers the period 1 April 2021 to 26 April 2021.

Military Aviation Authority

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what agreements are in place to allow the Military Aviation Authority to use evidence from other countries to support rapid assessment.

Jeremy Quin: The relevant agreements are known as Recognition. At present the UK MAA has Recognized nine MAA-equivalents and has been Recognized by 12 MAA-equivalents a full list of which are published on the Gov.uk website at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/maa-recognition

A400M Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the Release of Service Authority has certified personnel parachute operations safe, with regards to the A400M.

Jeremy Quin: The RAF Atlas A400M trials of specific personnel paradrop capabilities have commenced under Military Permit To Fly clearances, required to develop safe operating procedures to allow our own Release To Service Authority to consider authorising the capability.

Department for Work and Pensions

Kickstart Scheme

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when her Department plans to publish the Equality Impact Assessment on the Kickstart scheme.

Mims Davies: The Department for Work and Pensions plans to publish the Equality Impact Assessment on the Kickstart Scheme in due course.

Kickstart Scheme

Mark Jenkinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Kickstart scheme, how many jobs have been (a) made available for application to young people by that scheme; and (b) started by young people in each (i) business sector and (ii) region of the UK.

Alexander Stafford: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Kickstart scheme, how many jobs have been (a) made available for application to young people by that scheme; and (b) started by young people in each (i) business sector and (ii) region of the UK.

Mims Davies: As of the 22nd April 2021, over 93,000 jobs have been made available for young people to apply to through the Department for Work and Pensions’ (DWP) Kickstart Scheme. This includes approximately 16,600* jobs started by young people. There have been over 195,000 jobs approved by the scheme. More than 260 young people, on average, have started a Kickstart job every day for the last six weeks**. The tables below show these figures split by region and sector, the data presented has been rounded according to DWP statistical rounding convention. Although care is taken when processing and analysing Kickstart applications, referrals and starts, the data collected might be subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large-scale recording system which has been developed quickly. The management information presented here has not been subjected to the usual standard of quality assurance associated with official statistics, but is provided in the interests of transparency. *Around 1,000 of the Kickstart jobs started have been provided without government funding.** This is based on the number of young people starting in Kickstart jobs from 11th March 2021 to 22nd April 2021. RegionsJobs AdvertisedJobs StartedCentral England19,0002,900London and Essex22,0003,800North East England6,6001,200North West England16,0003,100Scotland6,5001,200Southern England19,0003,200Wales5,300740Figures may not add up to provided totals due to rounding. 1,000 non-grant funded jobs are included in Jobs Advertised but not included under Jobs Started.   By SectorJobs AdvertisedJobs StartedAdministration24,0004,300Animal Care430130Beauty & Wellbeing600100Business & Finance3,700620Computing, Technology & Digital7,5001,700Construction & Trades3,100580Creative & Media7,3001,800Delivery & Storage3,000580Emergency & Uniform Services19010Engineering & Maintenance3,400380Environment & Land1,800280Government Services28020Healthcare4,100520Home Services71070Hospitality & Food6,100750Law & Legal24070Managerial750100Manufacturing2,400510Retail & Sales15,0002,300Science & Research42070Social Care2,600210Sports & Leisure2,000330Teaching & Education4,100610Transport37030Travel & Tourism25030Figures may not add up to provided totals due to rounding. 1,000 non-grant funded jobs are included in Jobs Advertised but not included under Jobs Started.

Employment: Learning Disability

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will ensure that there are sufficient local employment and training opportunities for people with severe learning disabilities once they have completed further education.

Justin Tomlinson: The increased number of work coaches recruited under our Plan for Jobs will enable us to continue supporting those with complex needs, and to work with partners to ensure they get the help they need. People in particular disadvantaged groups will continue to benefit from support via the increased Flexible Support Fund. The Intensive Personalised Employment Support Programme (IPES) started on 2 December 2019. It provides highly personalised packages of employment support for disabled people who want to work but have complex needs or barriers and require specialist support to achieve sustained employment.

Food Supply: Surveys

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will increase the timescale used to measure household food security in the annual Family Resources Survey from 30 days to 12 months.

Will Quince: The Department has no such plans. The Family Resources Survey questions were developed in consultation with users, including experts from academia and others with experience of the subject, and with the Office for National Statistics, who deliver the survey for DWP.

Social Security Benefits: Temporary Accommodation

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people in receipt of contribution- based jobseekers’ allowance who are unable to migrate to universal credit as result of living in temporary accommodation.

Mims Davies: Contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance is not a benefit that Universal Credit has replaced. Those entitled to it can continue to receive this without migrating to Universal Credit. Claimants in receipt of contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance can claim for a total of 182 days. Some Claimants can also be entitled to Universal Credit, whilst claiming the 182 days of contribution-based Jobseeker’s Allowance, depending on their personal circumstances.If they are living in temporary accommodation, they can continue to receive housing support through Housing Benefit rather than Universal Credit.

Universal Credit

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of changing the universal credit childcare payments system to make it similar to Tax Free Childcare in allowing the top-up to be provided through a government account.

Will Quince: Universal Credit (UC) childcare costs is already a generous offer that pays up to 85% of registered childcare costs each month, up to £646.35 for one child aged up to 16, and £1,108.04 for two or more children aged up to 16. This could be worth up to £13,000. For every £8 families pay in to their online Tax-Free Childcare (TFC) account, the Government will make a top-up payment of £2 up to a maximum of £2,000 per child per year (or £4,000 a year for disabled children) aged up to 11. By being different the two benefits provide a wider offer to parents and eligible claimants can choose which option suits their circumstances. In addition to accessing free childcare, parents can choose to move between TFC and UC, with good reason to do so, if their circumstances change. Both UC and TFC childcare offers align with the free childcare offer that provides 15 hours a week of free childcare in England for all 3 and 4 year olds and disadvantaged 2 year olds, doubling for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week. The UC childcare costs element can be used to top up a claimant’s eligible free childcare hours if more hours are worked and childcare required. However, you cannot claim Tax-Free Childcare at the same time as claiming Universal Credit.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Marine Environment: Finance

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will sign up to the UN Environment Programme's Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles.

Rebecca Pow: The Government recognises the serious and increasing threats currently facing the ocean, and the disproportionate impact this has on the world’s poorest. That is why our manifesto committed to a £500 million Blue Planet Fund to help eligible countries reduce poverty and sustainably manage the ocean.Beyond public investment, the Government recognises the importance of mobilising private finance to help tackle this issue. Though we have no immediate plans to sign up, we welcome the UN Environment Programme’s work to progress this agenda, including through the Sustainable Blue Economy Finance Principles.

Tree Planting

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the England's tree planting programme.

Rebecca Pow: We are committed to increasing tree planting across the UK to 30,000 hectares per year by the end of this parliament. Through new funding and policy changes we are working hard to ensure our ambitious planting programme is a success. An England Trees Action Plan will be published this spring and set out plans for achieving an unprecedented increase in woodland creation in England, supported over this Parliament by the £640 million Nature for Climate Fund. The England Trees Action Plan has been developed through significant engagement with the public, businesses, experts and charities, and responses to the England Tree Strategy Consultation, ministerial roundtables and stakeholder webinars. We will work with partners to monitor and evaluate effective delivery of the actions it contains over this parliament and beyond.

Aquariums and Zoos: Coronavirus

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of demand for additional support for the zoo and aquarium sector during the covid-19 outbreak.

Rebecca Pow: From 12 April zoos have been able to welcome back visitors, reopening their outdoor areas as part of step two in the roadmap for easing lockdown restrictions. Our assessment was that zoos would need further support, which is why we extended the Zoo Animals Fund. We have extended the application deadline from 26 February 2021 to 28 May 2021 to give zoos more time to apply and have extended the support provided from the end of March 2021 to the end of June 2021. The fund has been a lifeline for many zoos and small, medium and large zoos have been able to secure funding to help them through this difficult time. Fund recipients have reached out to express how funding has supported their animals and what a difference it has made to them to receive this help. Under both zoo support schemes we have so far awarded over £10 million to 56 zoos, wildlife parks and aquariums to care for their animals and we are currently processing further applications. This money has provided for animal care costs and essential maintenance costs for those zoos experiencing severe financial difficulties due to covid-19. Under the Zoo Animals Fund only two applications have been rejected on the basis that the businesses in question were ineligible as they did not have the necessary licence or exemption. We encourage zoos in need to apply to the Fund and we will continue to work closely with the sector on reopening guidance to ensure that zoos and aquariums are able to welcome visitors safely.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to reduce levels of particulate air pollution to within the limit set in the World Health Organisation's recommendations in the Prevention of Future Deaths report, published on 21 April 2021.

Rebecca Pow: Our thoughts continue to be with Ella’s family and friends. We will carefully consider the recommendations in the Prevention of Future Deaths report and respond in due course. We know that air pollution is the single greatest environmental risk to human health, and although air pollution has reduced significantly over the last decade, there is more to do. The World Health Organization has praised our Clean Air Strategy as “an example for the rest of the world to follow”. We know there is a strong case for taking ambitious action on PM2.5 as it is the pollutant that has the most significant impact on health. We have already taken action on a major source of PM2.5 by legislating to phase out the sale of house coal, small volumes of wet wood and high sulphur manufactured solid fuels for domestic burning, but further action is needed. This is why we are introducing a duty to set a PM2.5 target – alongside at least one additional long-term air quality target - in the Environment Bill. We have always been clear that we will consider the World Health Organization’s guidelines for PM2.5 as part of this process.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter dated 12 February 2021 from the hon. Member for West Lancashire, regarding air pollution regulations in respect to the Animal, Plant and Health Agency, reference ZA53694.

Rebecca Pow: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member. A reply was sent on 22 April 2021.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much (a) funding and (b) other resources he allocated to the Pick for Britain campaign.

Victoria Prentis: Last year’s ‘Pick for Britain’ campaign was launched in April 2020 in response to the emerging risks that the COVID-19 pandemic posed to the UK’s food supply chain. It was a joint initiative between Defra and industry stakeholders, aimed at promoting horticultural picking roles to British workers, particularly those unemployed or on furlough. Defra secured co-investment from our industry project partners to deliver the campaign. This ensured that the wide-reaching campaign had a relatively small cost for the Government. Approximately £29,800 was spent by Defra on the ‘Pick for Britain’ campaign in 2020.

Members: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he plans to respond to the letter from the hon. Member for West Lancashire of 12 February 2021 on access to seed potato markets which was transferred to his Department by the Department for International Trade, reference ZA55507.

Victoria Prentis: I apologise for the delay in responding to the hon. Member. A reply is being prepared and will be issued very shortly.

Nitrates: Gloucestershire

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when steps Natural England is taking to enforce the European Court of Justice's Dutch nitrate ruling in Gloucestershire.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with Natural England on the adequacy of their guidance to local authorities on river pollution.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with the (a) Welsh Government and (b) Natural Resources Wales on their guidance to local authorities on river pollution.

Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions his Department has had with the Welsh Government on tackling pollution in the River Wye.

Rebecca Pow: Defra is committed to improving our water environment and reducing the impact of excess nutrients, including on the River Wye.   Natural England, the Environment Agency and other partners, including Natural Resources Wales, have been working together through a Nutrient Management Board to find effective solutions and document these through an action plan which is currently being drafted. This will identify measures needed to both restore the site to favourable condition and seek to create capacity for development, without harming the natural environment. Additionally, since 2016 the Environment Agency has been undertaking a significant amount of agricultural compliance and regulatory activity using satellite technology to identify and target locations at high risk of contributing to nutrient and soil pollution. This has been backed up by an extensive programme of advisory and support work delivered by Catchment Sensitive Farming and catchment partners such as the Wye and Usk Foundation and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust to improve agriculture sources of pollution to the River Wye. Furthermore, there is work underway to tackle phosphate pollution from waste water treatment in the River Wye through catchment partnerships. The Nutrient Management Board, Dwr Cymru Welsh Water and the recently announced Storm Overflows Task Force will seek to make further improvements in this space.   I accept that there is more to be done. As this is a devolved matter I, and officials in my department, remain engaged with our Welsh counterparts to align efforts on cross-border pollution issues and monitor progress closely.

Home Office

Slavery: Victims

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many payments have been made to victims of modern slavery each year since 2009.

Victoria Atkins: The National Referral Mechanism (NRM) does not publish payments made to victims of modern slavery and this does not currently form part of the published NRM statistics.All victims who consent to receiving support will receive this via the Modern Slavery Victim Care Contract (MSVCC) in England and Wales which is delivered by The Salvation Army. Details of the MSVC Contract can be found in a redacted version of the contract requirements here: Modern Slavery: Statutory Guidance for England and Wales (under s49 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015) and Non-Statutory Guidance for Scotland and Northern Ireland (publishing.service.gov.uk)All victims who consented to support under the previous Victim Care Contract were also eligible for financial support under the same policy and a redacted version of the previous contract requirements can be found here (https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/e03ceb15-27ad-4bad-b8ae-43dbc1e9481e).As of September 2019, following a CG decision, financial support needs for those in support are considered in a Recovery Needs Assessment (RNA) as part of a holistic assessment of recovery need, as per the published RNA policy.

Discrimination

Tom Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions officials in her Department are having with representatives of the College of Policing on removing the obligation on police forces to record non-crime hate incidents.

Victoria Atkins: Officials regularly meet College of Policing representatives to understand how practices and policies can improve.The Home Secretary also recently wrote to the College of Policing on this important issue.

Death Certificates: Digital Technology

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to introduce digital death certificates by April 2022.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office continues to pursue opportunities to digitise the death registration process, including working with the Department of Health and Social Care on the introduction of an electronic Medical Certificate of Cause of Death.There are no current plans to introduce a digital version of a death certificate.

Home Office: Contact Tracing

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether her Department plans to use the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office currently has no plans to use the NHS Test and Trace database system itself.

English Language: Education

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of the UK leaving the EU on the ability of UK teachers of English as a Foreign Language to secure work in the EU.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has made no such assessment given the Home Office has no responsibility for outbound mobility.

British Nationality: Children

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 13 April 2021 to Question 175906 on British Nationality: Children, what review of fees for immigration and nationality applications has the Department undertaken in response to the Court of Appeal's ruling on citizenship application fees for children.

Kevin Foster: As advised in the answer to PQ 175906, all fees for immigration and nationality applications are kept under regular review and we ensure they are within the parameters agreed with HM Treasury and Parliament, as set out in Section 68 (9) of the Immigration Act 2014.The Home Office has acknowledged the recent judgement and is reviewing the fee in line with its duties under Section 55.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Owen Paterson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the letter dated 23 November 2020 and follow-up letters dated (a) 29 December 2020, (b) 29 January 2021, (c) 25 February 2021, (d) 12 March 2021 and (e) 9 April 2021 from the hon. Member for North Shropshire regarding concerns raised by his constituent Mr Jon Harrison.

Kevin Foster: UK Visas and Immigration, MP Account Management team responded on 19 April 2021

Fraud: Telephone Services

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the number of scam phone calls being reported to Action Fraud in each month since March 2020; and what steps she is taking bring the perpetrators of those scams to justice.

Mike Amesbury: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the resources available to tackling online and phone scammers.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office collects information from the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau on the number of recorded frauds. From the information held internally it is not possible to separately identify offences of fraud in which scam phone calls have been involved.As part of the 2020 Spending Review, the Government committed a further £63m to the Home Office to tackle economic crime, including fraud. This is in addition to the funding the Home Office commits each year to the National Crime Agency, National Economic Crime Centre and police forces, including the City of London Police as the national lead force for fraud and the operator of the Action Fraud and National Fraud Intelligence Bureau services.The Home Office and DCMS are in regular discussion with the telecommunication industry on ways to tackle scam phone calls and protect the public. The Government has taken a range of actions to reduce the number of these calls. We have supported the National Trading Standards Scams Team to roll out call blocking devices to vulnerable people, helping to protect them from nuisance calls and scams. In addition, the City of London Police, the national lead force for Fraud, has partnered with Law Enforcement and Industry to combat call centre fraud from overseas jurisdictions.However, the best way to tackle this problem is to try and identify the sources of these calls and stop them. We are encouraging the public to forward suspicious text messages to 7726 (which is free of charge) and continue to encourage anyone who has been a targeted by a scam to report it. Action Fraud is the central police reporting point for all victims of fraud and can be contacted by phone on 0300 123 2040 or through their website: http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/report_fraud.Using this information, City of London Police, the National Cyber Security Centre and the National Crime Agency are able to facilitate numbers being used for scam calls/texts being blocked or removed.

Home Office: Contact Tracing

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has allocated any financial or other resources from her Department's budget to investigate potential future uses by her Department of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Kevin Foster: The Home Office has not allocated any financial or other resources for this purpose.

Asylum: Mental Health Services

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to provide mental health support to (a) asylum seekers who have come to the UK from war torn countries with a record of severe human right abuses and (b) other people seeking asylum in the UK.

Chris Philp: Asylum seekers can access the same NHS health services as UK citizens while their asylum claim is pending, and this of course includes mental health services. Home Office staff and contractors may make referrals to NHS healthcare providers where they become aware of serious health issues.

Home Office: Government Procurement Card

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to 2020 Home Office procurement card spending, what goods and services were purchased on the following occasions (a) £3,952.76, Pollyana Restaurant on 26 February 2020, (b) £900, The Magdalen Arms on 27 February 2020, (c) £864, Hair There and Everywhere on 2 April 2020; and if she will publish the procurement process for each of those occasions.

Kevin Foster: a) Pollyanna RestaurantCatering and hosting for 3 training courses. b) The Magdalen ArmsThis was used as a training venue for staff. c) Hair, There and EverywhereHand Sanitiser.

UK Visas and Immigration: Correspondence

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will assist the hon. Member for West Lancashire in securing a response from the Director General of UK Visas and Immigration to a letter dated 19 February 2021, on an asylum application, reference ZA55642.

Chris Philp: The Department works to a target of responding to 95% of MPs written correspondence within 20 working days. Performance has been impacted by a very significant increase in the volume of correspondence received, alongside the need for Ministers and officials to instigate a remote process for drafting and signing correspondence during the period of COVID-19 restrictions.The Department recognises that it has not been able to meet service standard in some cases but have implemented an action plan to clear backlogs and drive up performance.UK Visas and Immigration, MP Account Management team responded on 23 April 2021

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Ministerial Policy Advisers

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 20 April 2021 to Question 181283, on Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Ministerial Policy Advisers, whether meetings undertaken virtually by special advisers employed by his Department are subject to the same rules on declaration as those meetings undertaken in person.

Eddie Hughes: Meetings are declared on the basis set out on gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dclg-special-advisers-data#2020

Buildings: Insulation

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of inconsistency in External Wall System forms, including buildings receiving conflicting assessments, on (a) leaseholders nationally and (b) residents of the Blue Building in Portsmouth.

Christopher Pincher: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

British National (Overseas): Hong Kong

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he will provide support to English language lesson providers to meet the potential increase in demand as Hongkongers migrate to the UK.

Eddie Hughes: MHCLG is providing up to £14.7 million in this financial year for local authorities in England to arrange English language provision for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders relocating to their areas.   Local authorities can deliver these classes in a range of ways, including by working with accredited English language schools.

British National (Overseas): Hong Kong

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to his Department's press release of 8 April 2021, National welcome for Hong Kong arrivals, when the welcome hubs in England will (a) launch and (b) be ready to support Hongkongers as they integrate into their local communities.

Eddie Hughes: MHCLG will provide funds to Hong Kong-UK Welcome Hubs in the coming weeks.Strategic Migration Partnerships across the UK – who will host Welcome Hubs – have begun to put plans in place to support Hong Kong BN(O) status holders and their dependents.

British National (Overseas): Hong Kong

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how he plans to signpost Hong Kongers to the Government’s support package for people coming to the UK on the Hong Kong BN(O) route announced in April 2021.

Eddie Hughes: The new Hong Kong-UK Welcome Hubs will play a core role in signposting Hong Kong BN(O) status holders and their dependents to support that is available.Each area will develop unique plans, but we expect Welcome Hubs to work with MHCLG to fund local Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise groups who will be able to offer face-to-face orientation and partner with local authorities to refer people to support.We will continue to update the recently published Welcome Pack on Gov.UK as a comprehensive resource to help Hong Kongers navigate life in the UK and settle into their communities.

Next Steps Accommodation Programme

Mick Whitley: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many units of move-on accommodation were delivered as part of the Next Steps Accommodation Programme in the 2020-21 financial year.

Eddie Hughes: This Government is committed to ending rough sleeping. That is why we are investing £433 million over the lifetime of this Parliament to deliver 6,000 new homes for rough sleepers. This represents the largest ever investment in move-on accommodation.In October 2020 we announced allocations to local partners to deliver longer-term move-on accommodation. We are currently collating end year delivery information.Last month, we launched the next stage of the Rough Sleeping Accommodation Programme, making £212 million available to councils and housing associations to bring forward move-on accommodation and support for rough sleepers.

Blasphemy

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will consider bringing forward legislative proposals to reform of the law on blasphemy.

Luke Hall: My Department does not have plans to reform the law on blasphemy.

Planning

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to embed sustainable transport provision in the planning process.

Christopher Pincher: The Government is taking a number of steps to embed sustainable transport provisions in the planning process. Last year the Government consulted on the Planning for the Future White Paper which made clear that our planning reforms will seek to reduce our reliance on carbon-intensive modes of transport. Alongside this, the Government intends to publish the Transport Decarbonisation Plan in the Spring and will ensure this aligns with any outcomes from the Planning for the Future White Paper.The National Planning Policy Framework already actively promotes sustainable transport, and Planning Practice Guidance is also being updated in line with this. In addition, the Government has committed to updating Manual for Streets guidance to ensure the principles of good street design play a key role in creating sustainable communities and are embedded in the planning process, particularly the National Model Design Code.

Permitted Development Rights

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of allowing a longer period of time between the creation of the new Class E and the introduction of permitted development rights to enable the change to residential use.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the consistency of the proposed new permitted development right to enable the change of use from the new Class E to residential use with the National Planning Policy Framework.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the proposed new permitted development right to enable the change of use from the new Class E to residential use on rural employment.

Christopher Pincher: As we have stated in our previous responses, we aim to publish a full Regulatory Impact Assessment on the measures as soon as possible.

Permitted Development Rights

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to introduce a requirement for access to green space to permitted development rights.

Christopher Pincher: Our National Model Design Guide and supporting guidance notes includes reference to the importance of nature and green infrastructure, including easy access for all to open space and natural environments for health and wellbeing and social benefits.Permitted development rights include the change of use of existing buildings and extending existing buildings upwards, and development is therefore limited by the constraints of the existing site. We therefore do not currently have any plans to introduce a requirement for access to green space for such rights.

Planning Permission

Stuart Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the potential merits of extending the date parameters for eligible planning permissions and the date of the extension.

Christopher Pincher: The Business and Planning Act 2020 introduced measures to extend unimplemented planning permissions and listed building consents in response to the unprecedented effects on the development sector last year as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. We have no plans to extend these measures.

Housing: Construction

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the Government's National Design Guide and the Agent of Change principle, what the process is for pursuing developers if issues of conflict arise between developers and residents post-development.

Christopher Pincher: Where problems arise post-development due to a breach of planning control (including where suitable mitigation measures have not been provided to enable effective integration of a development with other uses), there are a range of powers available to a local authority. However, it is for the authority to decide what course of action to take depending on the circumstances.

Housing: Construction

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to publish updated guidance on the principles in their 2019 National Design Guide in relation to rapidly developing urban areas.

Christopher Pincher: The National Design Guide sets out ten characteristics of well-designed places which can be applied to all types of location, including rapidly developing urban areas. We recently consulted on a draft National Model Design Code, which builds on guidance in the National Design Guide, providing tools to local councils to enable them to establish well designed and beautiful places. We are currently considering the consultation responses, and will be announcing our next steps on the National Model Design Code.

Housing: Disability

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of home builders on accessible and adaptable housing.

Christopher Pincher: I refer the hon Member to my response to Question UIN 166427 on 17 March 2021.

Housing: Construction

Anthony Browne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing local authorities in seriously water-stressed areas scope to prioritise water supply constraints over housebuilding when considering their own local housebuilding targets above and beyond those mandated by national government.

Christopher Pincher: The Government does not set housing targets, our standard method is only the starting point for determining need. Local authorities should already be considering water supply when planning for housing; a key part of preparing local plans is ensuring that development is supported by necessary infrastructure. Co-ordination with infrastructure providers and other statutory consultees is crucial to this process.

UK Community Renewal Fund: Wales

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Wales regarding the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Luke Hall: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has worked collaboratively with multiple departments on the UK Community Renewal Fund, the Secretary of State and his Ministerial team have met with counterparts from other government departments including the Secretary of State for Wales. Departmental officials have also regularly met with colleagues from other government departments.

UK Community Renewal Fund

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has reviewed the eligibility criteria for the allocation of priority places for the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Luke Hall: To ensure the UK Community Renewal Fund funding reaches the most in need, we have identified 100 priority places based on an index of economic resilience across Great Britain which measures productivity, household income, unemployment, skills, and population density.   We are committed to transparency and a methodological note has been published explaining how the 100 priority places were selected.

Citizen Space

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps  Citizen Space is taking to verify the (a) identity and (b) nationality of respondents.

Luke Hall: I refer my hon Friend to my answers on 8 March to Questions UIN 159245 and UIN159246, which made clear that the Government welcomed the views of all those interested in the proposals, including local residents, town and parish councils, businesses and the voluntary sector; the process is not a poll or referendum, and hence there were no limitations on who was able to respond, nor is there a process of validating the details of respondents.Those responding to the consultation on Citizen Space, the Department's online platform which is used widely across the public sector for consultation activities, were required to declare whether they were responding as a resident (and if so whether they are resident in the area concerned or elsewhere including overseas) or whether they were responding on behalf of an organisation and in which case the type of organisation. They were also asked to provide the name of the organisation on whose behalf a response is being made and the email address of the respondent. No further details about a respondent's personal or family's interests were requested.

UK Community Renewal Fund: Wales

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with local authorities in Wales on the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Luke Hall: As set out in the UK Community Renewal Fund prospectus, the UK Government will work directly with local partners and communities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, who are best placed to understand the needs of their local areas and more closely aligned to the local economic geographies to deliver quickly on the ground.  Following the launch of the Fund, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government and officials held webinar events with all local authorities, including those in Wales, to provide details on the design of the new fund.  UK Government officials have been in touch with local authorities in Wales to assist them further in their understanding of the UK Community Renewal Fund, including how to apply.

Free Zones: Tees Valley

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions his Department has had with the Department for Transport on the discharge of statutory harbour authority duties in Tees Freeport.

Luke Hall: At present, we do not foresee impacts on discharge of statutory harbour authority duties. Should such an issue arise, my Department will work closely with colleagues in the Department for Transport, with whom there are close links on Freeports implementation.

Free Zones: Tees Valley

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of automation on (a) employment and (b) operations within the Tees Freeport over the next five years.

Luke Hall: Government made clear in the Freeports Bidding Prospects that the lead policy objective for Freeports policy is to promote regeneration and job creation. In pursuit of this objective, we were clear that bidders would be assessed against two key outcomes: a) an increased number of jobs and average wages in deprived areas in and around the Freeport, and b) an increase in economic specialisation in activities high in Gross Value Added (GVA) relative to the current makeup of the local economy. In order to make the list of appointable bids, bids were, amongst other criteria, required to have scored at least a medium on the Regeneration and Levelling Up criterion demonstrating clearly how they will be a catalyst for job creation and regeneration in the wider area.On automation specifically, Government believes there are many benefits, including job creation and improved productivity, but will continue to monitor its impact on the labour market.

Local Government: Somerset

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, on what date he plans to publish a complete data set of the responses his Department received to its consultation on local government reform in Somerset, which closed on 19 April 2021.

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the total number of responses his Department received to its consultation on local government reform in Somerset, which closed on 19 April 2021.

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many responses his Department received to its consultation on local government reform in Somerset, which closed on 19 April 2021, were recorded in favour of Somerset County Council's One Somerset proposal.

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many responses his Department received to its consultation on local government reform in Somerset, which closed on 19 April 2021, were recorded in favour of Somerset's four district councils' Stronger Somerset proposal.

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many responses his Department received from people resident in Somerset to its consultation on local government reform in Somerset, which closed on 19 April 2021.

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many responses his Department received from people resident outside of Somerset to its consultation on local government reform in Somerset, which closed on 19 April 2021.

Luke Hall: Thousands of responses have been received to the consultation on local government reorganisation in Somerset which closed on Monday 19 April. The Secretary of State will now be carefully considering the reorganisation proposals for Somerset to decide which, if any, should be implemented, subject to Parliamentary approval. In doing so he will have regard to all relevant information available to him, including the representations from the consultation which are now being analysed, and all other representations he has received.He intends before the summer to announce his decisions on the unitary proposals and publish a summary of consultation responses.

Soft Drinks: Taxation

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding his Department has received from the Soft Drinks Industry Levy.

Luke Hall: The money raised through the Soft Drinks Industry Levy is not linked to any specific programmes, or departmental spending. Departmental spend is allocated through Spending Reviews, by the Treasury.

Free Zones: Trade Unions

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with (a) the Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on trade union recognition within freeports.

Luke Hall: We were clear in the Freeports Bidding Prospectus that the government remains committed to ensuring its Freeport model maintains the UK’s high standards with respect to security, safety, workers’ rights, data protection, biosecurity and the environment, while ensuring fair and open competition between businesses.It is for determination of the individual Freeports themselves who they include in their coalitions within the parameters we have set.

Free Zones: Tees Valley

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what discussions he has had with (a) PD Ports and (b) Wentworth Clean Power on trade union recognition for employees at the (i) construction and (ii) operational phases of the Teesport Renewable Energy Centre within the Tees Freeport.

Luke Hall: Ministerial meetings with external organisations are published on Gov.uk.

Free Zones: Tees Valley

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department assessed the contract between PD Ports and Wentworth Clean Power for the Teesport Renewable Energy Centre as part of their official assessment of the Tees Freeport bid; and how that contract was scored under Sections 5.5 and 5.6 of the Freeport bidding prospectus published by the Treasury.

Luke Hall: My Department led the fair, open and transparent selection process to determine the successful Freeport locations in England, with assessment informed by relevant experts across government to ensure objective and robust assessment.All bids received were initially assessed on their answers to the Essential Information set out in Section 5.5 of the Freeports bidding prospectus. Those that passed this stage had their responses to the questions set out in Section 5.6 of the Freeports Bidding Prospectus assessed against the listed criteria. This involved assessing the proposal’s ability to deliver against the policy objectives; the deliverability of the proposal effectively at pace; and the level of private sector involvement in the proposal.Further information on the process and rationale for the selection of the successful Freeport locations in England, and how Teesside’s Freeport proposal scored against each of the assessment criteria, is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/freeports-bidding-prospectus/english-freeports-selection-decision-making-note.

Freeports Programme Board

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, with reference to the note on the freeports selection decision making process published by his Department on 8 April 2021, if he will list the members of the cross-government Freeports Programme Board.

Luke Hall: My Department led the fair, open and transparent selection process to determine the successful Freeport locations. The cross Whitehall Freeport Programme Board membership comprised of Senior Civil Servants from MHCLG, HMT, DfT, DIT, HMRC, BEIS, Border Force, the IPA, No.10, Defra and Cabinet Office.

Council Tax

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate he has made of the number of households in England which paid more than 10 per cent of net household income in council tax in 2020-21.

Luke Hall: The Government does not hold data on the income of households paying particular levels of council tax and has not made any such estimate. The level of council tax is determined by local authorities which are also responsible for designing and administering council tax reduction schemes to provide support for households with low incomes.

UK Community Renewal Fund: Bridgend County Borough Council

Chris Elmore: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reason Bridgend County Borough Council did not meet the criteria to be a priority place for the UK Community Renewal Fund.

Luke Hall: To ensure that the UK Community Renewal Fund reaches those most in need, we have identified 100 priority places based on an index of economic resilience across Great Britain which measures productivity, household income, unemployment, skills and population density. This has been developed based on a consistent approach to identifying need across Great Britain. We are committed to transparency and a methodological note explaining how the 100 priority places were determined has been published alongside further guidance for applicants and lead authorities.

Levelling Up Fund and UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support he is making available to applicants for applications to the (a) Levelling Up fund and (b) UK Shared Prosperity fund.

Luke Hall: To support applicants to the Levelling Up Fund, capacity funding will be allocated to the local authorities measured as highest need in England, and all local authorities in Scotland and Wales to help them build a new relationship with the UK Government. This capacity funding will help support the relevant local authorities develop high-quality bids for the Fund and ensure that investment is targeted where it is needed most. In Northern Ireland, there will be a different approach to capacity funding based on the funding landscape. This will see all district councils and some other identified bidding entities receive capacity funding.We are reserving up to £14 million of the UK Community Renewal Fund as capacity funding to support local places to prepare for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This will be made available later in 2021 and we will publish further details, including eligibility for capacity funding, nearer the time.

Parking: Fines

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans he has to ensure that car parking companies are held to account for fines issued in error to users.

Luke Hall: My Department is working hard to improve standards in the private parking industry. Last year we launched public consultations on our proposals for the new Parking Code of Practice and Enforcement Framework, designed to ensure fairness across the board.   The Government published its response to its consultation on the Code Enforcement Framework on 20 March 2021, announcing a series of parking measures which will benefit motorists and encourage people to return to our high streets and town centres.   This includes the creation of a single independent appeals service for motorists to turn to if they want to contest a private parking charge and an Appeals Charter, which will protect motorists from charges that are unfair or issued in error.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund: Disability

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what plans his Department has to support employment projects for disabled people through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Luke Hall: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will help to level up and create opportunity across the UK in places most in need, such as ex-industrial areas, deprived towns and rural and coastal communities.As set out at Spending Review 2020, one portion of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund will support investment in people and skills, in communities and places and in local businesses, all tailored to local needs. A second portion of the Fund will be targeted differently to people most in need, through bespoke employment and skills programmes. This will support improved employment outcomes for those in and out of work in specific groups of people who face labour market barriers.The Government will publish a UK-wide investment framework later this year.

Crawley Borough Council: Coronavirus

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much covid-19 related support funding has been allocated to Crawley Borough Council up to April 2021.

Luke Hall: Crawley Borough Council has received £2.9 million in direct funding to support the response to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020-21, of which £1.9 million is unringfenced. Crawley Borough Council will receive a further £0.6 million in Covid-19 unringfenced grant in 2021-22. In addition, the Council’s Core Spending Power, in 2021-22, is £13.2 million. Further, West Sussex County Council received £45.9 million in funding for Covid-19 related support in 2020-21, and will receive £15.6 million in additional Covid-19 unringfenced grant in 2021-22.

Cabinet Office

Local Government: Elections

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether he plans to extend the voting franchise for local elections in England to include all resident foreign nationals holding leave to remain under the Immigration Act 1971.

Chloe Smith: British citizens, qualifying Commonwealth citizens, citizens of the Republic of Ireland, and EU citizens, are entitled to vote in local elections in England (provided they are also resident here and meet other eligibility criteria). The Government has no plans to extend the franchise for local elections to include any other resident foreign nationals.

Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman: Complaints

Justin Madders: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman on its decision as of April 2021 to use a Severity of Injustice scale to decide on which complaints will be accepted for investigation.

Justin Madders: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what impact assessment was undertaken by his Department of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman decision as of April 2021 to use the severity of Injustice scale on the number of complaints that will be accepted for investigation in comparison to before the scale was used.

Chloe Smith: The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) is independent of Government and is accountable to Parliament through the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee for its performance. The PHSO will therefore reply separately to these questions by letter.

Veterans: Employment

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the protection and prioritisation of disabled veterans' employment.

Leo Docherty: Veterans offer a vast range of skills and talent to civilian employers and the Government recognises that having a job is one of the key foundations for those leaving the Armed Forces to transition into civilian life. This is why the Government has made it easier for veterans to join the Civil Service and introduced a National Insurance tax break for their employers.Veterans, including those with disabilities, requiring specialist employment support to find work can benefit from early voluntary entry to the Department for Work and Pensions’ Work and Health Programme and in due course we look forward to the publication of the National Disability Strategy which will set out further support for people, including veterans, with disabilities, building on the existing protections and opportunities they enjoy today.

Veterans: Government Assistance

James Daly: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what Government support is available to assist local authorities and veterans groups to create Veterans Hubs providing a wide range of services to ex-forces personnel.

Leo Docherty: Veterans have access to wide ranging support, wherever they live in the UK. In addition to the large number of national initiatives delivered by this Government in support of the Veterans’ Strategy, we recognise the hugely important role that charities and local communities play, through initiatives such as Armed Forces and veterans’ hubs.The Government supports these projects through the Armed Forces Covenant Fund Trust, which distributes funds of £10M per annum for projects that support the Armed Forces community, including veterans. This year, the Government has provided an additional £10M to the Trust to deliver projects supporting veterans’ mental health needs. While eligibility varies depending on the programme, funding is often available to both Local Authorities and charitable organisations.

Nuclear Weapons: Testing

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reason the December 2020 report of the independent Advisory Military Sub-Committee to the Committee on the Grant of Honours Decorations and Medals advised that a retrospective medallic award to nuclear test veterans should not be made; and if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of reviewing medallic recognition for Nuclear Testing Veterans.

Chloe Smith: The Advisory Military Sub-Committee (AMSC) operates independently of the Government but I understand that the case for medallic recognition was considered at length by the Sub-Committee.The AMSC concluded that, although the efforts of those involved in the campaign could not be discounted, the case did not meet the level of risk and rigour which is generally required for the award of a campaign medal or clasp.The AMSC is an advisory body which has made recommendations based on the available evidence, including that provided by campaign groups. Its advice was provided in line with its terms of reference and will only be looked at again if significant new evidence becomes available. I understand that any new submissions which might have been provided have been passed to the Sub-Committee.This decision in no way diminishes that commitment or the nations’ recognition of the contribution of veterans who served during these periods and contributed to the security of the United Kingdom and its Allies.

Care Homes: Coronavirus

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many care home residents have died of covid-19 since the start of the covid-19 outbreak.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have, therefore, asked the Authority to respond. UKSAs response to PQ183079 (pdf, 69.2KB)

Coronavirus: Monuments

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether the Government plans to establish a permenant memorial to people who have lost their lives as a result of covid-19.

Julia Lopez: Whilst the Government's immediate focus is on protecting the lives and livelihoods of the nation, building a fitting and a permanent memorial to the loved ones we have lost is something the Government is considering very carefully.We will set out the Government’s proposed approach to this important matter in due course.

Department for International Trade

Free Zones: Tees Valley

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what support officials in her Department have provided to the Tees Valley Mayor in discussions with investors on the takeover of PD Ports’ facilities in the Tees Freeport.

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what role (a) she and (b) her officials have played in discussions on the acquisition of PD Ports by the Mudabala Investment Company of Abu Dhabi.

Greg Hands: My Department has dedicated teams of Civil Servants across the UK including sector specialists and industry experts who work closely with Mayors and Local Enterprise Partnerships to help them define commercial investment opportunities which we showcase to potential investors through our global networks.The Government does not comment on commercial transactions by independent parties.

Overseas Trade: Kashmir

James Daly: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps the Government is taking to increase trade links with Azad Kashmir.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: HM Government continues to work with Pakistan to increase trade and improve the terms of our trading relationship. Pakistan benefits from the Enhanced Framework in our Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP) and total trade in goods and services (exports plus imports) between us was £2.4 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q3 2020.

Economic Partnership Agreements: Cameroon

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, on what date the UK's Interim Economic Partnership Agreement with Cameroon is scheduled to complete the 21 day ratification process set out in the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Greg Hands: We expect the UK-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement to complete its Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010 scrutiny process on Thursday 10 June, subject to Parliamentary timetabling.

Trade Agreements: Maldives

Angus Brendan MacNeil: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her Department is taking to secure a free trade agreement with the Maldives; and what steps she plans to take to ensure that agreement eliminates the 20 per cent tariff on tuna imports from that country.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: The United Kingdom is pursuing agreements with a number of trading partners over the next few years already, in an ambitious programme of work, so we are unable to consider a free trade agreement with the Maldives at the present time. We will keep this under review. The Maldives remains an important partner to the United Kingdom and we are keen to support countries that adopt sustainable fishing methods like the Maldives. My officials are continually exploring opportunities to enhance bilateral trade in important areas, such as food and drink and sustainable development.

India: Cairn Energy

Ian Murray: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will make representations to the Prime Minister of India on the international arbitration tribunal decision in favour of Cairn Energy plc in its dispute with the Indian Government during their scheduled discussions in April 2021.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: We note the award made by the arbitral tribunal in the case brought by Cairn Energy against the Government of India under the United Kingdom-India Bilateral Investment Treaty. HM Government is not a party to this dispute, but we hope that the case can be resolved.

Economic Partnership Agreements: Cameroon

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if she will publish the version of the Interim Agreement establishing an Economic Partnership Agreement between the UK and Cameroon initialled on 27 December 2020, annexed to the Memorandum of Understanding between the countries that took effect on 1 January 2021.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what changes were made to the Interim Agreement establishing a UK-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement between the version that was initialled on 27 December 2020 and the final version signed on 9 March 2021.

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: The United Kingdom-Cameroon Economic Partnership Agreement that was initialled on 27th December 2020, and the final agreement signed on 9th March 2021, have no substantial differences. As is usual international treaty practice, the Agreement underwent a legal review from both parties to ensure its accuracy.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Corporate Hospitality

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many times the Minister for Sport and the Olympics received hospitality from Camelot UK Lotteries Limited from May 2010 to October 2013.

Mr John Whittingdale: Government departments publish quarterly details of occasions where Ministers and officials are in receipt of hospitality. This is published on the Gov.uk website and covers the last 10 years. The documents show that the Minister for Sport and the Olympics received hospitality from Camelot UK Lotteries Limited once during the period May 2010 to October 2013, on 16 May 2013, as detailed in this release. Links to all the documents covering the period May 2010 to October 2013 are below. Ministerial Hospitality 13 May - 31 July 2010Ministerial Hospitality 1 August - 30 September 2010Ministerial Hospitality 1 October - 31 December 2010Ministerial Hospitality January to March 2011Ministerial Hospitality April to June 2011Ministerial Hospitality July to September 2011Ministerial Hospitality October to December 2011Ministerial Hospitality January to March 2012 Ministerial Hospitality April to June 2012Ministerial Hospitality July to September 2012Ministerial Hospitality October to December 2012Ministerial Hospitality January to March 2013Ministerial Hospitality April to June 2013Ministerial Hospitality July to September 2013Ministerial Hospitality October to December 2013

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Corporate Hospitality

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many times Ministers in his Department have received hospitality from Camelot UK Lotteries Limited in each of the last 10 years.

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many times officials in his Department have received hospitality from Camelot UK Lotteries Limited in each of the last 10 years.

Mr John Whittingdale: Government departments publish quarterly details of occasions where Ministers and officials are in receipt of hospitality. This is published on the Gov.uk website and covers the last 10 years.At the following link it is possible to apply filters to search for the documents specifically relating to DCMS and Transparency and Freedom of Information Releases over this period: [https://www.gov.uk/search/transparency-and-freedom-of-information-releases?content_store_document_type%5B%5D=transparency&organisations%5B%5D=department-for-digital-culture-media-sport&order=updated-newest]

Football: Coronavirus

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the planned hosting of (a) the semi-final and final of the UEFA Euro 2020 football tournament and (b) other major football tournaments, whether (i) Wembley stadium and (ii) other football stadiums will be designated as vital national infrastructure under covid-19 legislation.

Nigel Huddleston: Public safety is our main priority and decisions will be guided by a Science Board of relevant experts including senior PHE representation, who will take into account the latest public health data. Matters concerning the national infrastructure are for the Cabinet Office.

Wembley Stadium: Coronavirus

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what additional covid-19 testing capacity will be provided to support the return of fans to Wembley Stadium; and if he will make a statement.

Nigel Huddleston: The Events Research Programme aims to examine the risk of transmission of Covid-19 from attendance at events and explore ways to enable people to attend a range of events safely. To achieve this, the programme will explore how a combination of testing and non-pharmaceutical interventions (actions that people can take to mitigate the spread of coronavirus) can inform decisions on safely lifting restrictions at events.As part of the Events Research Programme, there will be three events taking place at Wembley Stadium: an FA Cup Semi Final, the FA Cup Final and the Carabao Cup final. To test transmission of COVID-19 at the event itself and effectiveness of pre-event LFD testing in detecting those infected with COVID-19, participants will also be asked to provide a PCR test on the day of the event and a home PCR test five days after the event. Testing will largely be delivered through the existing community testing network, with results validated by the event organisers before ticket-holders are admitted to the venue.

Football: Females

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 10 March 2021 to Question 163699 on Football: Females, how much and what proportion of the funding under Sports England's (a) Uniting the Movement strategy and (b) Community Emergency Fund has been allocated to (i) women and girls football teams and (ii) men and boys football teams.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government remains committed to encouraging more women and girls to get active and helping women’s sport emerge from the current crisis stronger than ever. This is an important opportunity to create a long-lasting legacy for women’s and girl’s sport and the Government is determined that women’s sport is protected as we emerge from the pandemic. Sport England’s new strategy, Uniting the Movement, has already committed an extra £50m to boost grassroots sports clubs and organisations - including women’s and girl’s football. Sport England expects to build on this investment as the implementation of the strategy progresses. Sport England is also investing £24.6m in The Football Association over the course of 2016-21 for its work on grassroots participation, the football talent pathway, and coaching programmes. Within this, £2.6m is specifically reserved for women and girls talent programmes. The Community Emergency Fund - part of Sport England’s COVID-19 support package - has delivered more than £5.38m of National Lottery funding for Association Football supporting both men’s and women’s football, and across Sport England’s COVID Support Package, £10,488,255 has been provide for 1,558 Association Football projects, benefitting all ages and genders.

Sports: Equality

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with Sport England on the effectiveness of their Tackling Inequalities Fund; and what steps he is taking to support Sport England to ensure that inequalities are tackled in sport and physical activity.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government is committed to tackling inequalities in sport and physical activity. Our strategy ‘Sporting Future’ sets out a clear ambition to increase levels of physical activity amongst under-represented groups. We are working closely with Sport England, DCMS’s arm’s length body for grassroots sport in England, to ensure that inequalities are being tackled effectively. The £20 million Tackling Inequalities Fund (TIF) is an important part of the £270 million support package that Sport England has committed to directly reduce the negative impact COVID 19 and the widening of inequalities in sport and physical activity. The fund is a focused approach to increasing physical activity for four under-represented groups: lower socio-economic groups, Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, disabled people, and people with long-term health conditions. Currently, £13.5 million has been awarded, and £9.7m of this has already reached community organisations and groups directly through 42 Active Partnerships and 30 national partners across the country. As a result there are over 2,800 projects actively being delivered by trusted partners closer to the communities that have previously been unserved by more traditional delivery structures. Tackling inequalities is also at the heart of Sport England’s recently launched new ten year strategy, ‘Uniting the Movement’, reinforcing their commitment to diversifying participation. DCMS will continue to work closely with Sport England to ensure that inequalities are addressed and tackled in sport and physical activity.

Football: Coronavirus

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will publish the methodology used to allocate the funding to the Sport Winter Survival Package for the Women’s Super League.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether the £2.25 million funding allocated to the Sport Winter Survival Package for the Women’s Super League includes other Government support.

Nigel Huddleston: On 19 February 2021 we announced that the Women’s Super League and FA Women’s Championship would receive a combined £2.25m of support from the Sport Winter Survival Package. This was grant support for essential costs across these two leagues, and included no other government support. On 19 March 2021 we announced a further £680,000 in grant funding from the Sport Winter Survival Package for six women’s football clubs in these two leagues. This brought the total support provided to women’s football from the Package to £2.9 million. Details about the methodology used to assess funding applications is provided in Sport England’s Programme Guide, available on their website at https://www.sportengland.org/news/more-details-given-sport-winter-survival-package

Sportsgrounds: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to release guidance on the holding of sporting events with crowds present as covid-19 lockdown restrictions are eased.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government has committed to taking a cautious approach to easing restrictions, guided by data rather than dates, to avoid a surge in infections that could put unsustainable pressure on the NHS. The roadmap sets out indicative, “no earlier than” dates for each step which are five weeks apart. This allows four weeks for the data to begin to reflect the impact of the previous step and a further week’s notice for individuals and businesses to prepare. ‘COVID-19 Response - Spring 2021’ sets out a roadmap out of the current lockdown in England. Each full step of our roadmap will be informed by the latest available science and data and will be five weeks apart in order to provide time to assess the data and provide one week’s notice to businesses and individuals. We will ensure that interim results gathered from research programmes are fed into policy development swiftly to avoid missing reopening opportunities because of insufficient data. Current guidance for DCMS sectors in relation to Covid-19 is available on gov.uk and we will continue to provide updated guidance on reopening safely as we progress through the Steps of the roadmap. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport owns the overarching guidance for grassroots and elite sport and is working closely with other government departments to ensure the return of spectators is covid-secure. Guidance updates will be published prior to the commencement of Step 3 to allow organisers time to comply with the changes. For guidance on any individual sports you should refer to guidance produced by the relevant national governing body.

Sports: Coronavirus

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what communications he (a) has had and (b) plans to have with hon. Members on venues in their constituencies hoping to run pilot sporting events with spectators in attendance as covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Nigel Huddleston: The Events research programme (ERP) is overseen by an industry-led steering group co-chaired by Nicholas Hytner and David Ross and working closely with national and local public health authorities. The board will consider the evidence from the pilot events and make recommendations to the Prime Minister and the Secretaries of State for DCMS, BEIS and DHSC on how restrictions could be safely lifted. As part of our stakeholder engagement, we liaise with a number of companies and organisations in DCMS sectors, and will continue to engage with stakeholders and the scientific community to help shape ERP plans. The ERP delivery team is also working closely with the event operators, local Directors of Public Health and local authorities. I wrote to you on 16 April offering a conversation, and am happy to speak with any member with a pilot event being run within their constituency. We have selected our pilots to examine a range of settings, venue types, and activity types (e.g. seated or not, indoor/outdoor etc) so that the data is generalisable and findings can inform thinking on the reopening of similar settings across multiple sectors. An independently-chaired Science Board of cross-Whitehall Chief Scientific Advisors, independent scientists, and public health experts established the pilot approach to generate usable data across a variety of settings and sectors. Priority has been given to settings which allow for testing of mitigations in varying configurations. The ambition of the ERP remains, building a set of replicable data that can be extrapolated to other settings and sectors. To achieve this goal, focus will be given to settings identified by our Science Board. There may be the opportunity to feed in options for our second phase of pilots over May-June. We will share more information with stakeholders on this process and what scientific criteria we will need these events to cover in due course.

Boxing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to take fiscal steps to (a) promote boxing live events in the UK and (b) help ensure that a forthcoming boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury takes place in the UK.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government is supportive of bringing major sports events to the UK and our approach is set out in the Gold Framework publication. Fiscal responsibility sits with Her Majesty's Treasury.

Boxing

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if he will take steps to ensure that a forthcoming boxing match between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury takes place in the UK.

Nigel Huddleston: The UK is a world-leading host for major sporting events, having successfully delivered some of the biggest events in recent years. The location for this match is a matter for the organisers, promoters and athletes themselves to decide.

Data Protection Act 2018

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to bring forward legislative proposals to amend the Data Protection Act 2018.

Mr John Whittingdale: The UK now controls its own data protection laws and regulations, in line with our interests, after the end of the transition period. We will continue to operate a high-quality data regime that promotes growth and innovation, and underpins the trustworthy use of data. We want our data protection law to remain fit for purpose, and to support the future objectives of the UK. We will shortly publish the Government Response to the National Data Strategy Consultation, which will provide further details on the action the Government is taking to unlock the power of data.

Coronavirus: Disinformation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to tackle online misinformation on covid-19.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government takes the issue of disinformation very seriously and DCMS is leading work across Government to tackle it. In response to the harmful disinformation and misinformation relating to Covid-19 we stood up the Cross-Whitehall Counter Disinformation Unit on 5 March 2020, which brings together cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities. We are working with social media platforms to support the introduction of systems and processes that promote authoritative sources of information, and to help them identify and take action to remove incorrect claims about the virus, in line with their terms and conditions. We have also launched a toolkit with content designed to be shared via Whatsapp and Facebook community groups, as well as Twitter, Youtube and Instagram, to tackle false information spread through private channels. The campaign is fronted by trusted local community figures such as imams, pastors and clinicians in short, shareable videos which include simple tips on how to spot misinformation and what to do to stop its spread. This toolkit is based on the core principles of the SHARE checklist, which aims to increase audience resilience by educating and empowering those who see, inadvertently share and are affected by false and misleading information. The Online Safety Bill will be ready this year. As set out in the full government response, the Online Safety Bill will introduce a duty of care requiring companies to address harms on their online platforms, such as misinformation and disinformation. The new laws will have robust and proportionate measures to deal with misinformation and disinformation that could cause significant physical or psychological harm to an individual, such as anti-vaccination content and falsehoods about COVID-19. However, we are clear that companies should not wait for legislation to be in place to take action against online harms.

Culture Recovery Fund

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to direct more of the next allocation of the Culture Recovery Fund to smaller local cultural organisations and programmes.

Caroline Dinenage: The government has put in place one of the most comprehensive packages of business support in the world, including for the cultural sector, an announcement of the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund (CRF). The CRF has seen over £1.2 billion awarded to nearly 5,000 organisations and sites since October last year, with 70% of grant funding going outside of London. A wide range of organisations from independent cinemas to heritage sites, nightclubs, local theatres, grassroot music venues and many others have been saved that otherwise would have been lost forever. In the 2021 Budget the Chancellor announced a further £300 million for the CRF. This funding will continue to support key cultural organisations; to bridge the sector as audiences begin to return; and continue to ensure a vibrant future for the culture sector as the nation recovers from the pandemic. Further details will be announced in due course and we will continue to work closely with the sector to ensure it remains supported.

Events Industry: Insurance

Dr Rupa Huq: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect of the absence of a Government-backed insurance scheme for the festivals sector on that sector.

Caroline Dinenage: This Government recognises the importance of the UK’s live music sector, and in particular Music Festivals known around the world.More than £21 million from our unprecedented Culture Recovery Fund has supported over 100 festivals to continue trading including Boomtown, Shambala, Glastonbury and Deer Shed Festival.Our science-led Events Research Programme (ERP) is also exploring ways in which we can bring larger audiences back safely to the arts this summer if public health conditions allow and we recently announced an outdoor music pilot event at Sefton Park in Liverpool on 2nd May which will provide some valuable data for outdoor events settings featuring unstructured movement of people.We are aware of the wider concerns about securing indemnity for live events and we continue to assess all available options to provide further support to the sector within the public health context.

Arts Council England: Finance

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he plans to (a) expand the eligibility criteria and (b) increase the funding available for Arts Council England grants.

Caroline Dinenage: There are no current plans to change the eligibility criteria or increase funding for Arts Council England grants.Alongside regular Arts Council England funding, such as National Portfolio and Project Grants funding, last year the government announced the unprecedented £1.57 billion support package for the culture sector. Over £1.2 billion worth of funding from the Culture Recovery Fund has already been allocated across all four nations of the UK. A further £300 million of support was announced by HM Treasury at the Spring Budget and criteria for applicants will be announced shortly.Rigorous criteria have rightly been applied to all applicants to the first and second rounds of the Culture Recovery Fund, to ensure support is provided to organisations that have national and local importance. Our Arms Length Bodies, including Arts Council England, have the delegated authority to take decisions on grant applications due to their long established grant delivery role, their expertise and understanding of the sectors in which they operate.DCMS works closely with the sector, Arm’s Length Bodies, the Culture Recovery Board, HM Treasury and the National Audit Office to keep the progress of fund allocations and the level of need in the sector under close review.

Choirs: Coronavirus

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the timescale for allowing choirs to sing (a) indoors and (b) outdoors as covid-19 restrictions are eased.

Caroline Dinenage: Non-professional performing arts activities such as choirs are currently permitted outdoors, within the legal gathering limits. People should only take part in non-professional performing arts activities outdoors in groups of up to 6 people, or as a group of 2 households. A group made up of 2 households can include more than 6 people, but only where all members of the group are from the same 2 households (each household can include an existing support bubble, if eligible). Social distancing should be maintained between people who do not live together or share a bubble. Rules on outdoor singing for non-professionals will be relaxed at Step 3 of the roadmap and no earlier than 17 May, in line with the changes to social contact limits and wider performing arts activity restarting. Amateur singing indoors, is expected to return at Step 4 of the Roadmap and no earlier than 21 June. COVID-19 spreads from person to person through small droplets, aerosols and through direct contact. Singing, playing some musical instruments, shouting and physical activity increases the risk of transmission through small droplets and aerosols. The cumulative effect of aerosol transmission means the more people involved, the higher the risk of transmission. This means that it is currently important to limit the total number of individuals involved in singing as far as possible.

Facebook

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent communication officials in his Department have had with the Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications at Facebook.

Matt Warman: Since the beginning of this year, DCMS officials have communicated with Nick Clegg, Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications at Facebook, in advance of his meetings with the DCMS Secretary of State on 12 January 2021 and 25 February 2021. Additionally, officials were in contact to set up a meeting with the DCMS Director General for Digital and Media in April 2021.

Youth Covid-19 Support Fund

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how much of the Youth Covid-19 Support Fund has been allocated so far.

Matt Warman: £15.6m of the Youth Covid-19 Support Fund has been allocated. All applicants have now been informed of their outcomes, and the transfer of funds is nearly complete.555 youth organisations have been awarded funding, including 544 small, grassroots youth groups and services, and 11 national and umbrella organisations. The full list of successful organisations will be published after the pre-election period (w/c 10th May 2021).

Young People: Voluntary Work

Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to Answer of 19 April to Question 180550, on voluntary work, (a) what is the definition of a core participant; and (b) what proportion of core participants completed the whole NCS programme from start to finish.

Matt Warman: Core participant numbers reflect the young people who took part in the part-residential NCS programme during the relevant seasons. Participation numbers in other NCS activities are not counted towards this figure. For section (b) of this Question, please refer to my answer to Question 184499.

Internet: Disinformation

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent of QAnon's influence in the UK.

Caroline Dinenage: The Government is focused on addressing disinformation or misinformation by any group. In response to the harmful disinformation and misinformation relating to Covid-19 we stood up the Cross-Whitehall Counter Disinformation Unit on 5 March 2020, which brings together cross-Government monitoring and analysis capabilities. The Unit’s primary function is to provide a comprehensive picture of the extent, scope and impact of disinformation and misinformation regarding Covid-19 and to work with partners to ensure appropriate action is taken. There has been no recent assessment of the extent of QAnon’s influence in the UK. However, we have been working closely with social media platforms to quickly identify and help them respond to potentially harmful content on their platforms, including removing harmful content in line with their terms and conditions, and promoting authoritative sources of information.

Civil Servants: Business Interests

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department’s human resources team has ever prevented former civil servants or special advisors from taking up a position at Camelot UK Lotteries Limited.

Mr John Whittingdale: DCMS has not prevented former civil servants or special advisors from taking up a position at Camelot UK Lotteries Limited. Upon leaving the civil service, all civil servants are subject to the Business Appointment Rules (BARs). BARs restrictions apply for two years after the last day of paid Civil Service employment for members of the Senior Civil Service and equivalents, including special advisers of equivalent standing. For those below the Senior Civil Service and equivalents, including special advisers of equivalent standing, the Rules continue to apply for one year after leaving the Civil Service, unless, exceptionally, the role has been designated as one where a longer period of up to two years will apply. The aim of the Rules is to avoid any reasonable concerns that: a. a civil servant might be influenced in carrying out his or her official duties by the hope or expectation of future employment with a particular firm or organisation, or in a specific sector; or b. on leaving the Civil Service, a former civil servant might improperly exploit privileged access to contacts in Government or sensitive information; or c. a particular firm or organisation might gain an improper advantage by employing someone who, in the course of their official duties, has had access to: i. information relating to unannounced or proposed developments in Government policy, knowledge of which may affect the prospective employer or any competitors; orii. commercially valuable or sensitive information about any competitors

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Contact Tracing

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has allocated any financial or other resources from his Department's budget to investigate potential future uses by his Department of the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to use the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Chris Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on using the NHS Test and Trace database system.

Caroline Dinenage: No such discussions have taken place. No assessment has yet been made, nor any decisions made, on whether to use the data systems used by NHS Test and Trace for other purposes beyond those related to Covid-19. Any work to assess potential future uses of these data systems would be met from within the financial resources already allocated to NHS Test and Trace for the 2021/22 financial year.

Prime Minister

Coronavirus: Monuments

Abena Oppong-Asare: To ask the Prime Minister, whether he plans to visit the covid memorial wall.

Boris Johnson: The covid memorial wall is a moving reminder of the heartbreak and grief suffered by families across the United Kingdom. Each heart is a reminder of the individuals who have died. I have met and continue to meet those bereaved by Covid-19. Details of my public engagements will be announced in the usual way.

Women and Equalities

Gender Recognition: Schools

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, with reference to her Department's LGBT Action Plan: Annual progress report 2018 to 2019, published in July 2019, when the Equality and Human Rights Commission plans to issue guidance for schools on supporting trans pupils.

Kemi Badenoch: Our schools and teachers are committed to supporting all pupils to thrive and reach their potential in a safe and respectful environment.The Department for Education is also rolling out new inclusive statutory Relationships Education in all primary schools and Relationships and Sex Education in all secondary schools, so that children leave school prepared for life in modern, diverse, Britain.As the Equality and Human Rights Commission is a non-departmental public body, it is for them to comment on any guidance they plan to publish. We are not able to provide further information on this.

Migrants: British Indian Ocean Territory

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what recent assessment her Department has made of the levels of discrimination against Chagossians living in the UK.

Kemi Badenoch: The Race Disparity Unit has made no assessment of the levels of discrimination against Chagossians living in the UK. The Government is clear that no one in this country should have to endure racism and we are committed to building a fairer Britain and taking the action needed to address disparities wherever they exist. This includes considering carefully the recommendations of the report by the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities that was published on 31 March.Those who feel they have been discriminated against should contact the Equality Advisory Support Service for help and advice.